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LIBRARY 

UNtVERSiTY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 
SAN  OICGO 

>>. 


MEN    OF    OTJE    DAY; 


OB, 


OP 


PATRIOTS,   ORATORS,   STATESMEN,   GENERALS,  REFORMERS, 
FINANCIERS  AND  MERCHANTS, 

NOW  ON  THE  STAGE  OF  ACTION: 


INCLUDING 


THOSE    WHO    IX    MILITARY,    POLITICAL,.    BUSINESS    AND 

SOCIAL  LIFE,  ARE  THE  PROMINENT  LEADERS 

OF  THE  TIME  LN  THIS  COUNTRY. 


BY    L.    P.    BROCKETT,    M.D., 

AUTHOR   OF   "OUR  GREAT   CAPTAINS,"   "  WOMEN'S    WORK    IX    THE    CIVIL  WAR," 
"LIFE  A>*D  TIMES  OP  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. "  "THE   BIOGRAPHICAL  POR- 
TIONS   OF   APPLETON'S   ANNUAL   CTCLOP-BDIA,"  ETC.,   ETC. 


ELEGANTLY  ILLUSTRATED  WITH  FORTY-TWO  PORTRAITS  FRO)!  LIFE, 


PUBLISHED  BY  ZEIGLER,  McCURDY  &  CO., 

PHILADELPHIA,     PEXN'A;    CIXCIXXATI,    OHIO;     CHICAGO,     ILL.; 

ST.     LOUIS,     MO. 

1868. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18(58,  by 
L.  P.  BROCKETT, 

In   the  Clerk's  Office   of  the   District   Court   of  the   United    States   for   the   Eastern 
District   of  New   York. 


s.    A.    GEORGE, 

BTEEEOTYPER     AND      PUIXTER, 

124   NORTH    SEVENTH     SI'UEET, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


PREFACE. 


"  NOTHING,"  says  a  recent  epigrammatic  writer,  "  suc- 
ceeds like  success."  We  may  add,  nothing  interests  the 
public  like  the  history  of  success.  Let  a  man  be  poor, 
obscure,  and  undistinguished  by  any  remarkable  or  con- 
spicuous deeds,  and  though  he  had  the  wisdom  of  Solo- 
mon, the  meekness  of  Moses,  the  patience  of  Job,  or  the 
faith  of  Abraham,  yet  there  would  be  little  or  no  inter- 
est felt  in  his  history.  An  humble  and  outwardly  quiet 
life  may  have  its  record  of  heart  struggles,  its  days  of 
sunshine  and  shadow,  its  nights  of  wearying  anxiety 
and  mental  disquiet,  which  are  full  of  interest  to  beings 
of  higher  intelligence  than  ours,  and  form  to  the  psycho- 
logist a  curious  study;  but  for  the  great  mass  of  man- 
kind they  possess  no  charm. 

But  let  this  same  man  achieve,  slowly  or  suddenly,  a 
high  position ;  let  him,  by  some  cunning  invention,  or  by 
some  bold  and  daring  enterprise,  attain  a  princely  for- 
tune ;  or,  better  still,  by  the  bold  avowal  of  some  great 


111 


iy  PREFACE. 

and  righteous  principle,  and  patient  adherence  to  it 
through  years  of  obloquy  and  persecution,  win  from  a 
reluctant  world  admiration  for  his  fearless  persistency ; 
let  him  at  a  fitting  moment  enunciate  some  great  truth 
which  shall  influence  a  continent,  or  speak  some  word 
which  shall  loosen  a  nation's  bonds ;  let  him  by  calm 
cool  bravery,  sound  judgment  and  unflinching  resolution, 
win  his  way  up  from  a  humble  position  to  the  command 
of  great  armies,  and  leading  them  wisely,  bring  a  long 
and  bloody  war  to  a  close ;  or  in  the  quiet  of  his  study, 
let  him  forge  those  lyrics,  whose  white  heat  shall  set  the 
world  aflame,  and  there  will  be  enough  to  interest  them- 
selves in  him.  His  every  movement  will  be  chronicled ; 
thousands  will  seek  to  honor  themselves  in  honoring 
him ;  his  words  will  be  carefully  noted  and  treasured ; 
and  even  the  most  trivial  incidents  of  his  childhood  and 
youth  will  be  eagerly  sought  for,  and  read  with  the 
greatest  avidity. 

And  there  is  nothing  surprising,  nothing  wrong  in 
this.  When  a  man  has  achieved  greatness,  it  is  natural 
that  we  should  desire  to  know  the  steps  by  which  he 
has  attained  to  his  present  position,  for  there  is  in  every 
heart,  and  especially  in  the  hearts  of  the  young,  a  hope, 
seldom  expressed,  often  hardly  acknowledged  to  them- 
selves, that,  knowing  the  way,  they,  too,  may  succeed 


PREFACE.  V 

in  ascending  to  that  lofty  and  distant  summit,  where 
''Fame's  proud  temple  shines  afar;"  and  though  but 
few  have  the  patience  and  the  gifts  to  realize  their  fond 
expectation,  yet  they  are  often  led  to  greater  exertion 
than  they  would  have  made  but  for  the  inspiration  of 
such  a  hope. 

It  is  the  desire  to  minister  to  this  laudable  craving  of 
the  human  heart  more  than  any  other  consideration, 
unless  it  may  be,  perhaps,  a  long-cherished  fondness  for 
biographical  studies,  which  has  led  the  writer  to  lay 
before  his  countrymen  the  pen  portraits  of  these  fifty 
men  of  note  in  the  various  walks  of  public  life.  All 
of  them  are  now,  happily,  among  the  living;  and  all 
are  honored  by  many,  and  most  of  them  loved  by  more. 
A  few  of  them  are  personal  friends  and  acquaintances ; 
others  known  to  him  only  by  correspondence,  have 
kindly  furnished,  through  friends,  the  materials  from 
which  he  has  been  able  to  give  their  life  history.  For 
all,  his  sources  of  information  have  been  ample,  and  he 
has  endeavored  to  use  them  as  wisely  as  he  could.  That 
the  volume  may  aid  in  making  all  its  readers,  and  espe- 
cially the  young,  wiser  and  better,  in  giving  them  loftier 

and  more  earnest  aims,  is  his  sincere  hope  and  desire. 

L.  P.  B. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y.,  March,  1868. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


U.  S.  GRANT. 
W.  T.  SHERMAN. 
P.  H.  SHERIDAN. 
GEO..G.  MEADE. 
O.  0.  HOWARD. 
GEO.  H.  THOMAS. 

D.  G.  FARRAGUT. 
BENJ.  F.  WADE. 
THADDEUS  STEVENS. 
HENRY  WILSON. 
LYMAN  TRUMBULL. 
0.  P.  MORTON. 

SCHUYLER  COLFAX 

• 
S.  P.  CHASE. 

E.  M.  STANTON. 
W.  P.  FESSENDEN. 
W.  D.  KELLEY. 

S.  C.  POMEROY. 
G.  S.  BOUTWELL. 
JOHN   SHERMAN 
JOHN  A.  LOGAN. 


CHAS.  SUMNER. 
EDWIN  D.  MORGAN. 
REUBEN   E.  FENTON. 
HANNIBAL  HAMLIN. 
W.  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 
CORNELIUS  COLE. 
ANDREW  G.  CTJRTIN. 
JAY  COOKE. 
CHAS.  FRANCIS  ADAMS. 
WM.  H.  SEWARD. 
REVERDY  JOHNSON. 
HUGH   McCULLOCH. 
CORNELIUS  VANDERBILT. 
J.  A.  DIX. 
HORACE  GREELEY. 
WENDELL  PHILLIPS. 
W.  G.  BROWNLOW. 
THEODORE  TILTON. 
GERRIT   SMITH. 
HENRY  WARD  BEECHEE. 
WM.  LLOYD  GARRISON. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 
PREFACE 0 

CONTENTS 9 

GENERAL    ULYSSES   SIMPSON    GRANT. 

Great  leaders  spring  from  the  people — Often  lead  quiet  and  obscure  lives  till  tho  emergency  arises 
which  calls  them  out — Are  not  always  or  often  those  who  are  first  thrown  upon  the  top 
wave — General  Grant's  ancestry — His  boyhood — His  fondness  for  horses — Anecdotes — Hfo 
judgment  and  executive  power — Incidents — Fond  of  mathematics— Don't  like  tanning — 
Bent  to  West  Point — Graduates  twenty-first  in  his  class — Service  at  Jefferson  Barracks — At 
Southern  posts — In  the  Mexican  war — Distinguishes  himself  in  the  battles  of  the  route  to 
Mexico,  and  is  honorably  mentioned  and  brevetted — On  garrison  duty  after  the  Mexican 
war— In  Oregon  and  on  the  frontier — First  Lieutenant — Captain — Resigns  his  commission — 
Keasons  for  so  doing — Becomes  a  farmer — 111  success — Tries  other  vocations — Enters  "  Grant 
and  Bon's"  store  at  Galena — His  political  views — The  outbreak  of  the  war — He  resolves  to 
offer  his  services  to  the  Government — Adjutant-General  of  Illinois — Appointed  Colonel  of 
twenty-first  Illinois  volunteers — The  march  to  Quincy — Guarding  railroads — Acting  Briga- 
dier-General— Commissioned  Brigadier-General — Heads  off  Jeff.  Thompson — Mrs.  Selvidge's 
pies — Grant's  post  at  Cairo — Ho  seizes  Smithland  and  Paducah — Another  chase  of  Jeff. 
Thompson — The  battle  of  Belmont — Fort  Henry  captured — The  siege  of  Fort  Donelson — 
Overtures  for  surrender — "  I  propose  to  move  immediately  upon  your  works" — The  surren- 
der— Ascent  of  the  Tennessee— The  camps  at  Shiloh — Carelessness  of  the  troops — A  sur- 
prise—The battle  of  Shiloh — The  Union  troops  driven  back  toward  the  river,  and  sadly  cut 
up — Grant's  coolness  and  composure — The  second  day's  fight — Tho  rebels  driven  back  and 
compelled  to  retreat — The  siege  of  Corinth — Grant  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten- 
nessee— Battles  of  luka,  Corinth,  and  the  Hatchie — Grant  at  Memphis — Movement  toward 
Vicksburg — The  disaster  at  Holly  Springs,  and  its  consequences — Grant  at  Young's  Point 
and  Milliken's  Bend — Attempts  to  reach  Vicksburg  by  way  of  the  Yazoo— Canal  projects — 
Runniug  the  batterries — The  overland  march — Crossing  the  river  toBruinsburg — The  march 
northward  to  Jackson,  the  Black  river,  and  to  the  rear  of  Ticksburg — Assaults,  and  siege — 
Communication  opened  above  the  city — Surrender  of  Vicksburg — Visits  home — Accident  at 
New  Orleans — Appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi — At 
Chattanooga — Battles  of  Lookout  Mountain  and  Mission  Ridge — Driving  Longstreet  from 
Knoxville — President  Lincoln's  Letter — Grant  Lieutenaut-General — Preparations  for  the 
campaign  of  1664 — Consultation  with  Sherman — The  opening  battles  of  the  spring  of  1864 — 
Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  the  North  Anna,  etc.—"  I  propose  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line,  if 
it  takes  all  summer" — Battles  of  Tolopotomy  and  Cold  Harbor — Crossing  the  James — Peters- 
burg— The  mine — Hatcher's  Run — The  operations  in  the  Shenaudoah  Valley — Terrible 
pounding — The  enemy  at  last  worn  out — Cutting  their  communications — Five  Forks — 
Evacuation  of  Eichmond  and  Petersburg — Lee's  surrender — The  President's  assassination — 
Grant  at  Raleigh — The  nation's  gratitude  to  Lieutenant-General  Grant — His  Southern  tour — 
He  accompanies  Mr.  Johnson  to  the  West — Created  General,  July,  1866 — Secretary  of  War 
ad  interim,  August,  1867 — Restores  the  office  to  Secretary  Stanton,  January,  1868 — Rage  of 
the  President — Summary  of  General  Grant's  character — His  personal  appearance — JYote.-  on 
the  charge  of  intemperance  made  against  him — The  remarkable  balance  of  his  faculties...  17-60 

ix 


X  CONTENTS. 

ADMIRAL  DAVID  GLASCOE  FARRAGUT. 

PAOl 

Origin  of  the  family— Birth  of  David— His  early  admission  to  tho  nary — Adventures  in  the 
Pacific — Mr.  Folson's  instructions — He  becomes  a  lieutenant — Marriage — Loss  of  his  wife— 
His  slow  promotion — His  accomplishments — Farragut  ia  Norfolk  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war — His  intense  loyalty — "  I  cannot  live  hero" — Removal  to  Hastings — Employed  on  the 
Naval  Retiring  Board — Ho  commands  the  squadron  intended  for  tho  capture  of  New 
Orleans — The  bombardment  of  the  forts— Farragut's  resolution — He  encounters  and  defeats 
the  rebel  squadron,  and  passes  the  forts  under  a  terrible  fire — "  Whatever  is  done,  will  have 
to  be  done  quickly" — Ho  ascends  the  river  to  New  Orleans,  and  demands  its  surrender — It 
is  surrendered  on  the  28th  of  April — He  continues  to  ascend  the  river— Passes  Vicksburg — 
Captures  Galveston  and  other  Texan  ports— Passing  the  batteries  at  Port  Hudson — Loss  of 
the  Mississippi — Blockading  Red  River — Attack  on  the  forts  at  the  entrance  of  Mobile  Bay — 
His  plans — Running  through  tho  torpedos — The  fight  with  the  ram  Tennessee — Farragut 
lashed  in  the  rigging — "Go  on  with  speed!  ram  her  again!" — His  tenderness  for  the 
wounded — Kindness  to  the  rebel  Admiral — Made  Vice-Admiral — The  work  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Potomac — The  gift  made  to  him  by  loyal  merchants  of  New  York — His  modesty  and 
patriotism — He  is  promoted  to  be  Admiral,  tho  first  in  the  history  of  tho  country — His 
European  tour — Personal  characteristics — Determination — "That  is  the  very  reason  you  did 
not  succeed" 61-77 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  WILLIAM    TECUMSEII   SHERMAN. 

His  birth — Adopted  into  tho  family  of  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing — Enters  West  Point — His  high  rank 
as  a  cadet — Services  in  Florida — At  Fort  Moultrie — Transferred  to  California — Promoted  to  a 
captaincy — Marries — Resigns — Is  a  banker — President  of  Louisiana  S  tatc  Military  Academy— 
His  letter  of  resignation — Intense  loyalty — A'isits  Washington — Incredulity  of  the  Govern- 
ment— Colonel  of  13th  Infantry — In  battle  of  Bull  Run — Desperate  fighting — Brigadier- 
General — In  command  of  Department  of  the  Ohio — Excludes  the  reporters  from  his  head- 
quarters— Indignation  of  tho  "gad-flies"  of  the  press — "Two  hundred  thousand  men 
wanted" — Ad  interim  Thomas  pronounces  him  crazy — Sherman  asks  to  be  relieved — Is 
shelved  at  Jefferson  Barracks — Ilalleck  assigns  him  to  a  division — The  hero  of  the  battle  of 
Shiloh — The  attack  on  Chickasaw  Bluff — Superseded  by  McClernand — Restored  to  command 
by  Grant — The  Sunflower  river  expedition — Demonstration  on  Haincs'  Bluff — The  rapid 
marches  and  hard  fighting  in  approaching  Vicksburg  from  below — His  capture  of  Walnut 
Hills,  and  assaults  on  Vicksburg — Pursuit  of  Johnston — In  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  en  route  to  Chattanooga — The  demonstration  on  Fort  Buckner — Pursuit  of 
Longstreet  and  raising  the  siege  of  Knoxville — The  Meridian  expedition — What  it  accom- 
plished— Commander  of  the  Grand  Military  Division  of  tho  Mississippi — Number  of  his 
troops — His  communications — The  movement  toward  Atlanta,  Dalton,  Resaca,  Kingston, 
Allatoona  Pass,  Dallas,  Kenesaw  Mountain — Crossing  the  Chattahoochie — Rousseau's  raid — 
The  battle  before  Atlanta — Death  of  McPherson — Siego  of  the  city — Its  capture  by 
stratagem — Thomas  sent  northward — Sherman  marches  to  the  sea — Capture  of  Fort  McAllis- 
ter and  Savannah — "A  Christmas  gift" — Sherman's  march  through  the  Carolina^ — Columbia 
and  Charleston  captured — Entrance  into  North  Carolina — Results  thus  far — Battles  of 
Averysboro  and  Bentonville — Goldsboro  occupied — Rest — Sherman  goes  to  City  Point — For- 
ward again — Raleigh — Overtures  for  surrender  by  Johnston — Sherman's  propositions — Their 
rejection  by  the  Cabinet — Grant  sent  to  Raleigh — Surrender  of  Johnston — In  command  of 
the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi — LIEUTENANT-GENERAL,  U.S.A.,  and  LL.D. — Sherman's 
personal  appearance  and  manners — His  military  and  intellectual  culture — His  soldiers'  love 
for  him 78-106 

VICE-ADMIRAL    DAVID    D.  PORTER. 

His  father  a  naval  hero — Sketch  of  Commodore  David  Porter— Birth  of  the  future  Vice- Admiral — 
He  accompanies  his  father  in  chase  of  the  pirates  when. a  child — Enters  the  navy  in  1829 — 
Midshipman — In  coast  survey — Slow  promotion — In  Mexican  war — On  the  Crescent  City — 
"  He  would  go  in" — Promoted  to  be  commander— In  blockading  squadron — In  charge  of 
mortar  fleet — On  the  James  river — In  charge  of  tho  Mississippi  squadron  as  Acting  Rear- 


CONTENTS.  Xl 

,  VOT 

Admiral — Captures  Fort  Henderson — The  Yazoo  and  Sunflower  expeditions — Running  the 
batteries— Fight  at  Grand  Gulf— Shelling  Ticksburg— The  Bed  river  expedition— Gathering 
cotton— Jumping  the  rapids — Colonel  Bailey's  wing  dams — Sharp  fighting — Becalled  to  the 
Atlantic  coast — The  two  attacks  on  Fort  Fisher — Its  capture — Capture  of  Wilmington — Cor- 
respondence with  General  Butler — Superintendent  of  the  Naval  Academy — Beforms — Pro- 
moted to  "Vice-Admiralty — Personal  appearance  and  attainments  of  Admiral  Porter — His 
courage 107-11! 

MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP  H.  SHERIDAN. 

His  birth  and  birth-place — His  adventures  with  the  Irish  schoolmaster  McNanly — His  appoint- 
ment to  West  Point — Gets  sent  down  one  class  for  thrashing  a  fellow  cadet — His  gradua- 
tion—Serves on  the  Texas  frontier — In  California  and  Oregon — Keeps  the  Indians  in  order—- 
His readiness  for  the  war — Audits  claims — Quartermaster  for  General  Curtis — Sent  to  buy 
Horses — On  Halleck's  staff— Colonel  of  cavalry — Commands  a  calvary  brigade — Made  Briga- 
dier-General— Commands  the  third  division  in  the  Army  of  the  Ohio — Fortifies  Louisville — 
Commands  his  division  at  Perryville,  and  saves  the  day — His  gallant  conduct  at  Stone 
River — Ho  turns  the  tide  of  battle — Made  Major-General — Sheridan  at  Chickamauga — Cut 
off  by  the  enemy,  but  finds  his  way  back — Sheridan  in  the  ascent  of  Mission  Bidge — His  gal- 
lant leadership — "How  are  you?" — He  mounts  a  captured  gun — Transferred  by  General 
Grant's  request  to  the  charge  of  the  cavalry  corps  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac — He  re- 
organizes it — Fights  seventy-six  battles  in  less  than  a  year — His  report — His  raid  toward 
Richmond — Appointed  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  Shenandoah — The  battle  of 
Opequon  creek — Early  "sent  whirling" — Made  Brigadier-General  in  regular  army — The 
battle  of  Middletown  plains — A  defeat  and  a  victory — "We  are  going  to  get  a  twist  on 
them:" — The  reinforcement  of  the  Union  army,  "one  man,  SHERIDAN!" — "The  ablest  of 
generals" — The  great  raid  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  James — Marching  past  Richmond — 
Dinwiddie  Court-House — Five  Forks — Removal  of  General  Warren — Following  up  the 
enemy — Ordered  to  Texas — Commander  of  the  Fifth  District — Troubles — The  riot  and 
massacre — Border  Difficulties — Sheridan's  decisive  action — President  Johnson  removes  him — 
His  visit  North,  and  the  ovations  he  received — Personal  appearance 120-149 

MAJOR-GENERAL   GEORGE   H.  THOMAS. 

His  birth,  family,  early  training — Education  at  West  Point — In  the  Florida  war — In  the  Mexican 
war — His  brevets — His  gallantry — In  Florida,  Newport,  Boston,  Fort  Yuma,  and  St.  Louis, 
till  1656— On  the  Texas  frontier,  1856-1860— Major  in  April,  1861— Lieutenant-Colonel,  May 
3d,  1861 — Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers — In  Kentucky — Battle  of  Mill  Spring — Major- 
General  of  Volunteers,  April  25th,  1SC2 — In  the  siege  of  Corinth — In  command  at  Nashville- 
Commands  the  centre  (first  divisions)  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland — At  Stone  River — 
"  The  Rock  of  Chickamauga" — Made  Brigadier-General  in  regular  army — At  Chattanooga — 
Battle  of  Orchard  Knob— In  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland — Marching  toward 
Atlanta — Kenesaw  Mountain — Peach  Tree  Creek — Jonesboro— General  Shorman  leaves  him 
to  "  take  care  of  Hood" — The  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nashville — A  glorious  victory — Major- 
General  in  regular  army — Commander  of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Tennessee — Johnson's 
efforts  to  bribe  him — His  personal  appearance 150-158 

MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE    GORDON    MEADE. 

Born  in  Spain — His  family — His  education  at  West  Point — His  engineering  services — In  the 
Mexican  Wai' — Survey  of  the  northern  lakes — In  command  of  one  brigade  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Reserve  Corps — Army  promotions — Battle  of  Mechanicsville — Wounded  in  the  Seven 
Days — Division  commander — Commands  a  corps  at  Antietam — At  Fredericksburg — Succeeds 
to  command  of  fifth  army  corps — Major-General  of  volunteers — Battle  of  Chancellorsville — 
The  march  into  Pennsylvania — General  Meade  succeeds  General  Hooker — His  general  order 
on  assuming  command— Battle  of  Gett3-sburg — The  pursuit  of  Lee — Lee's  attempt  to  sever 
his  communications — General  Meade's  action  of  Mine  Run — He  commands  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  through  the  campaign  of  1864-5 — Made  Brigadier  and  Major-General  in  regular 
army — In  command  of  Military  Division  of  the  Atlantic — Suppression  of  Fenian  invasion  of 
Canada — Transferred  to  the  Military  Division  of  the  South— His  services  there — His  personal 
appearance 159-167 


xii  CONTENTS. 

MAJOR-GENERAL   OLIVER  OTIS  HOAVARD. 

PASS 

His  birth  and  education— A  graduate  of  Bowdoin  college— Enters  West  Point— Graduates  fourth 
in  his  class — His  service  before  the  war — Assistant  professor  at  West  Point — Colonel  of 
volunteers  from  Maine— Leads  a  brigade  at  Bull  Run— Brigadier-General  of  volunteers,  Sep- 
tember, 1861— Loses  his  arm  at  Fair  Oaks — At  Second  battle  of  Bull  Run — At  Antietam 
and  Fredericksburg — Major-General  of  volunteers,  and  commander  of  the  eleventh  corps — 
The  battle  of  Chancellorsville— Panic  in  eleventh  corps— Gettysburg— Gallant  behavior  of 
General  Howard— Howard  at  Chattanooga — The  assault  on  Fort  Buckner — The  march  to 
Atlanta— Succeeds  to  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee — His  bravery — Leads  the 
right  wing  of  Sherman's  army  in  the  march  to  the  sea,  and  through  the  Carolinas — Anec- 
dote of  Sherman  and  Howard,  note — Made  Brigadier  and  brevet  Major-General  iu  the  regular 
Army — Appointed  Commissioner  of  the  Freedman's  Bureau — President  Johnson's  opposition 
to  this  bureau — He  desires  to  remove  General  Howard  from  the  commissionership,  but  is 
prevented  by  the  Tenure  of  Office  law — The  difficulties  in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of 
the  bureau  caused  by  the  President's  opposition — Literary  honors  conferred  on  General 
Howard — His  private  character— Anecdote,  note 168-177 

SALMON    PORTLAND    CHASE. 

Birth  and  ancestry — His  father's  character  and  career — Mr.  Chase's  early  education — Bishop 
Chase's  invitation — His  stay  at  Cleveland — The  ferry  boy — His  life  at  Washington — Re- 
moves with  his  uncle  to  Cincinnati — The  bishop  goes  to  England,  and  his  nephew  returns  to 
New  Hampshire — Teaches,  and  enters  Dartmouth  college — His  standing  there — The  re- 
vocation of  the  faculty's  sentence  on  his  fellow  student — At  Washington — Teaching — Studies 
law  under  William  Wirt — Commences  practice  in  Cincinnati — Partnership — Defends  J.  G. 
Birney — Other  anti-slavery  cases — "A  promising  young  man  who  has  just  ruined  himself"— 
Defends  Birney  again,  and  Van  Zandt — "Once  free,  always  free" — Aids  in  organizing  a  Lib- 
erty part}' — The  third  clause  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States — No  mental  reserva- 
tions— Address  to  Daniel  O'Connell — The  S.  and  W.  Liberty  Convention — The  Tan  Zandt 
and  Dieskell  vs.  Parish  cases — Mr.  Chase  in  the  Senate — His  ability  there — Withdraws  from 
the  Democratic  party  iu  1852 — Elected  and  re-elected  Governor  of  Ohio — His  financial  ability 
in  that  position — Again  in  the  Senate — In  the  Peace  Conference — Appointed  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  by  Mr.  Lincoln — His  incessant  labors — The  skill  and  success  of  his  financial 
measures — His  early  loans — The  five-twenties — The  National  Banking  Act — The  seven- 
thirties  and  ten-forties — Brief  exposition  of  his  policy — His  resignation — His  appointment  aa 
Chief  Justice — Tour  at  the  South — Characteristics  of  Chief  Justice  Chase's  mind — He  pre- 
sides over  the  impeachment  trial — His  personal  appearance — A  possible  candidate  for  the 
Presidency — His  position  on  national  questions 178-19S 

EDWIN   M.  STANTON. 

Mr.  Stanton  of  Quaker  ancestry — His  grandparents  and  father  remove  from  North  Carolina  to 
Ohio — His  birth  in  Steubenville,  Ohio — His  early  education — Studies  law  with  Judge  Tap- 
pan — Reporter  to  Supreme  Court — Gains  a  large  practice  in  U.  S.  Courts — Removes  to  Pitts- 
burgh, and  in  1856  to  Washington — Is  sent  to  California  by  the  Government  in.  a  land  giant 
case — Attorney-General  in  the  Buchanan  administration — Succeeds  Mr.  Cameron  as  Secretary 
of  War — Judge  Holt's  opinion  of  him — His  immense  labors  in  the  department — His  roughness 
of  manner,  but  real  kindness  of  heart — The  ablest  war  minister  of  modern  times — Mr.  Johnson 
desires  to  get  rid  of  him — His  letter  and  Stanton's  reply— Mr.  Johnson  suspends  him — Gen. 
Grant  Secretary  ad  interim — The  Senate  reinstates  him — An  attempt  to  remove  him  is  fol- 
lowed by  Mr.  Johnson's  impeachment — At  the  close  of  the  impeachment  trial,  Mr.  Stafiton 
retires 199-207 

WILLIAM   HENRY   SEWARD. 

Birth  and  education— Studies  law  with  John  Anthon  and  others— Removes  to  Auburn— Mar- 
riage—Partnership— Presides  over  an  Adams'  Young  Men's  Convention— An  anti-mason— 
Elected  to  the  State  Senate — His  career  there— Goes  to  Europe— Elected  and  re-elected 
Governor— Measures  of  his  administration— Controversy  with  Governors  of  Georgia  and  Vir- 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

MM 

ginia— Resumes  the  practice  of  law — The  Freeman  case — The  Van  Zandt  case— The  Michigan 

Conspiracy  cases — Political  and  literary  addresses — Elected  U.  S.  Senator — "  The  higher 
law" — He  is  abnsed  by  pro-slavery  men — The  subjects  he  discussed — His  literary  labors — 
Argument  iii  the  McCorrnick  Reaper  case — Re-election  to  the  Senate — His  great  labors  in 
the  Senate — "  The  Irrepressible  Conflict" — The  presidential  nomination  in  1860 — Mr.  Seward 
'a  candidate — He  canvasses  for  Mr.  Lincoln — Entertains  the  Prince  of  Wales — Is  appointed 
Secretary  of  State — The  important  questions  he  had  to  handle — Mason  and  Slidell — Some 
dissatisfaction  felt  with  some  of  bis  measures — Tenders  his  resignation  to  Mr.  Lincoln — It  is 
not  accepted — "  Sixty  or  ninety  days" — The  accident  to  Mr.  Seward — Attempt  to  assassinate 
him — His  recovery — Regrets — Mr.  Seward's  recent  course — His  purchases  of  territory — His 
loss  of  reputation  by  his  support  of  Mr.  Johnson's  schemes — The  lesson  of  his  public  life  208-2-22 

HON.  HANNIBAL    HAMLIN. 

"  We  raise  MEN" — Mr.  Hamlin's  family — His  birth  and  education — An  editor — Studies  law — Ad- 
mitted to  the  bar — Removes  to  Hampden,  Maine — In  the  Legislature— In  Congress — His 
defence  of  New  England — Re-election — Ili^  labors — Elected  to  the  Senate — His  opposition  to 
slavery — Leaves  the  Democratic  prfrty  and  becomes  a  Republican — Elected  Governor  by  an 
immense  majority — Re-elected  to  the  Senate — Replies  to  Senator  Hammond's  "Mudsill" 
speech — Nominated  and  eleete.l  Vice-President — The  Confidence  he  inspired — His  judicious 
course — The  folly  which  piuvented  hjs  re-nomination — Appointed  Collector  of  Boston — His 
resignation,  and  its  cause — His  letter  to  Mr.  Johnson— Subsequent  career — Personal  ap- 
pearance— Character 223-232 

HON.  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN   WADE. 

Birth  and  early  life — Goes  to  Ohio  on  foot — Cutting  wood — School  teaching — Driving  cattle — 
Work  on  tho  Erie  canal — Teaching  again — Studies  law — His  first  case — His  unremitting 
study — His  success — 1'rosecuting  attorney  for  Ashtabula — Elected  to  the  State  Senate— His 
work  there — His  anti-slavery  views  give  offence — Returns  to  the  practice  of  his  profession — 
Canvasses  Ohio  for  General  Harrison — His  marriage — Again  elected  to  the  State  Senate — 
Procures  tho  incorporation  of  Oberlin  college — Makes  an  able  report  against  the  refusal  of 
the  right  of  petition  by  Congress — Defends  J.  Q.  Adams — Declines  re-nomination  to  the 
Senate — Resumes  practice — Elected  in  1847  President  Judge  of  third  Judicial  District  of 
Ohio— His  ability  as  a  judge — Chosen  U.  S.  Senator  in  1851 — Takes  the  stump  for  General 
Scott — Abandons  the  Whig  party  in  1S54,  and  avows  himself  a  "  Black  Republican" — His 
speech — Incidents  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  debate — Tho  southern  fire-eater — "A  foul- 
mouthed  old  blackguard" — "  Gag"  Atherton  and  Mr.  Wade — Some  men  born  slaves — "  The 
dwarfish  medium" — "  Selling  his  old  mammy" — Senator  Douglas's  "  Code  of  Morals" — Lane 
of  Kansas — "  Well,  what  arc- you  going  to  do  about  it?" — Wade  not  to  be  crushed — "Good- 
by,  Senator" — "  The  Liberator,  one  of  our  best  family  papers" — Toombs's  tribute  to  Senator 
Wade's  honesty  ami  integrity — His  avowal  of  his  radicalism — The  assault  on  Senator 
Sumner — Senator  Wade's  fearlessness— His  action  during  the  war — Re-elected  to  the 
Senate — President  of  the  Senate,  and  V ice-President  of  the  United  States — His  personal  ap- 
pearance— His  keen  eye — An  excellent  presiding  officer — The  measures  he  has  initiated  and 
advocated — His  only  disagreement  with  President  Lincoln 233-255 

HON.  SCHUYLER   COLFAX. 

His  birth  and  early  life — Removal  to  the  West — Clerk  in  a  country  store — Deputy  county  au- 
ditor— Studies  law — The  debating  society  and  mock  legislature — Owns  and  edits  the  St. 
Joseph  Valley  Register — Not  a  printer  by  trade — Ability  with  which  the  paper  was  con- 
ducted— Mr.  Wilkeson's  account  of  Mr.  Colfax  at  this  time — Mr.  Colfax's  remarks — A  dele- 
gate to,  and  secretary  of,  the  Whig  National  Convention  in  1848 — Member  of  the  Indiana 
Constitutional  Convention — Opposes  the  Black  laws — A  candidate  for  Congress  in  1851,  but 
defeated — Delegate  and  secretary  of  the  National  Whig  Convention  in  1852 — Elected  to  Con- 
gress  in  1S54 — His  maiden  speech — Haif  a  million  copies  circulated — Canvasses  for  Colonel 
Fremont  as  President — Successive  :•-  '.•  tions  to  Congress — Speaker  of  the  House  for  three 
successive  sessions — His  remarkable  ability  as  a  presiding  officer — His  interest  In  the  Pacific 


CONTENTS. 

PAOH 

railroad — Overland  journey  to  California— "Across  the  continent" — His  canvass  for  Mr. 
Lincoln — Cordial  and  intimate  relations  with  him — Personal  appearance — Manner  as  a 
speaker — Passage  from  one  of  his  speeches — Religious  character — Nominated  for  tho  Vice- 
Presidency 256-26T 

HON.  WILLIAM   PITT   FESSENDEN. 

Birth  and  lineage— Educated  at  Bowdoin  college — Studies  lav.  —Removes  to  Portland — A  mem- 
ber of  the  Maine  Legislature— Declines  political  omce — Becomes  eminent  as  a  lawyer — In 
the  Legislature  in  1839 — Elected  to  Congress  in  1840 — Declines  a  re-nomination — In  the 
Legislature  in  1845-6— Important  legal  cases  tried  by  Mr.  Fessenden — Elected  to  Congress, 
but  does  not  claim  his  seat — Member  of  three  successive  National  Whig  Conventions — In 
the  Legislature  1853-4 — Chosen  II.  S.  Senator,  1854,  by  a  coalition — Avows  himself  a  Repub- 
lican— His  great  services  in  tho  Senate — Re-elected  twice— Receives  degree  of  LL.D.  from 
Bowdoin  and  Harvard — Chairman  of  finance  committee — Appointed  Secretary  of  Treasury 
in  1864 — Situation  of  the  finances  at  this  time — Mr.  Fessenden's  wise  measures — Their 
happy  result — More  comprehensive  and  efficient  taxation — Re-elected  to  the  Senate— Again 
at  the  head  of  the  finance  committee — His  political  and  personal  bearing — His  unexpected 
action  with  reference  to  impeachment— His  intellectual  ability 26S-27I 

HON.  JAMES   HARLAN. 

Birth  and  early  educational  advantages — Educated  at  Ashbury  university — Professor  of  lan- 
guages in  Iowa  City  college — State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction — Studies  law  and 
practices  it  for  five  years — President  of  Wesleyan  university,  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa — Elected 
TJ.  S.  Senator — Circumstances  of  election — Resigns  the  presidency  of  the  university,  b«t 
accepts  the  professorship  of  political  economy,  etc. — His  course  in  the  Senate — His  severe  re- 
buke of  the  Democracy — They  resolve  to  get  rid  of  him — Vote  to  unseat  him  on  account  of 
irregularity  in  his  election — He  returns  to  Iowa  and  is  immediately  re-elected,  and  returns 
to  his  seat — A  fearless,  thorough,  and  true  Republican  Senator — Member  of  the  Peace  Con- 
gress of  1861 — An  intimate  friend  and  adviser  of  President  Lincoln — Review  of  his  Senatorial 
action — Extract  from  one  of  his  speeches — Member  of  Union  Congressional  Committee  in 
1864 — Appointed  Secretary  of  Interior  by  President  Lincoln — Cannot  sympathize  with  "  My 
Policy" — Resigns — Is  returned  to  the  Senate — His  high  integrity 276-288 

HON.  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS. 

His  lineage — Birth — Early  residence  abroad — Fights  the  English  boys  for  the  honor  of  America- 
Enters  Harvard  college — Graduates  with  high  honors — Studies  law  with  Daniel  Webster— 
His  marriage — In  the  State  Senate — Contributes  to  the.  reviews,  etc — Collects  materials  for 
life  of  his  grandfather — Edits  the  Boston  Whig — Nominated  by  the  Free-Soilers  for  Vice- 
Presidency — The  Boston  Whiff  becomes  the  Boston  Republican — Mr.  Adams  disposes  of  his 
interest  in  it — His  "Life  andWorksof  John  Adams" — Elected  to  Congress  in  1858  and  1860— 
His  course  there — Appointed  Minister  to  England  by  Mr.  Lincoln — His  extraordinary  ability 
as  a  diplomatist — His  great  services  to  the  country — His  manner  and  bearing 2S7--31 

HON.  JOHN   ADAMS   DIX. 

Birth  and  lineage — Educated  at  Philips'  academy,  Exeter,  N.  H.,  and  at  Montreal — Enters  St. 
Mary's  college,  Baltimore — Offered  and  accepts  an  Ensign's  rank  in  the  army — His  promo- 
tions— His  father's  death — Captain  in  the  Third  Artillery — Visits  Cuba — His  marriage — Ad- 
mission to  the  bar — In  political  life — Adjutant-General  of  New  York — Secretary  of  State- 
In  the  Legislature — Tour  of  Europe — U.  S.  Senator— Nominee  of  Free-Soilers  for  Governor- 
Assistant  U.  S.  Treasurer  at  New  York— Postmaster  of  New  York  City,  1859  to  1S61 — 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  January  to  March,  1801 — "  If  any  man  attempts  to  haul  down 
the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot !" — Presides  over  Union  meeting  in  Union  Park- 
Appointed  Major-General  in  regular  army,  June  16th,  1861 — In  command  of  District  of 
Maryland— Transferred  to  Eastern  Virginia— Commands  Department  of  the  East— Trial  and 
execution  of  Beall  and  Kennedy — Presides  at  the  Philadelphia  Convention — Nominated  by 


CONTENTS.  XV 

MM 

President  Johnson  Naval  Officer  of  the  Port  of  New  York,  and  the  same  day  U.  S.  Minister 
to  France — Chooses  the  latter — Is  confirmed,  and  enters  upon  his  duties  in  January,  1867 — 
His  published  works — His  personal  appearance 292-296 

WILLIAM  ALFRED  BUCKINGHAM. 

Hit  lineage — His  birth  and  early  training — Benevolence  of  his  parents — His  education — A  clerk 
in  New  York  City,  and  afterward  in  Norwich — In  business  for  himself— Treasurer  of  Hay- 
ward  Rubber  Company — One  of  the  founders  of  the  Norwich  Free  Academy — Mayor  of  Nor- 
wich— His  benevolence — Elected  Governor  of  Connecticut,  and  seven  times  re-elected — His 
prompt  and  noble  action  at  the  ommencement  of  the  war — Equips  the  troops  on  his  own 
responsibility — Sends  his  adjutant-general  to  Washington  to  cheer  the  President — His 
official  letters  to  the  President — His  congratulation  to  the  President  on  the  issue  of  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation — The  majorities  by  which  he  was  re-elected — Close  of  his  guber- 
natorial career — His  nomination  by  his  State  for  Vice-Presidency — He  withdraws  his  name 
from  the  convention — Is  elected  to  the  U.  S.  Senate — Personal  appearance 299-305 

GOVERNOR  REUBEN  E.  FENTON. 

Birth  and  lineage— Early  education — He  reads  law — Engages  in  mercantile  business,  and  after  a 
time  in  the  lumber  trade — Is  successful — Chosen  supervisor — Elected  Representative  in  Con- 
gress in  1852,  and  again  in  1856, 1858,  1860,  and  1862 — His  course  and  labors  in  Congress — 
His  opposition  to  slavery — Became  a  Republican  in  1854 — An  active  supporter  of  the  Gov- 
ernment during  the  war — Nominated  for  Governor  and  elected  in  1864 — His  able  adminis- 
tration— His  opposition  to  corruption — Sympathy  with  the  soldiers — His  vetoes — His  address 
to  President  Johnson  in  August,  1866 — The  political  situation  in  the  autumn  of  1866 — Gov- 
ernor Fenton  re-nominated  and  re-elected  by  a  larger  majority  than  at  first — Continuation 
of  his  policy — The  rebel  dead  at  Antictam — The  Governor's  message  of  1868 — His  fidelity  to 
the  people — His  radicalism — His  integrity — Resolution  of  the  Republican  State  Convention 
in  February,  1868 306-317 

HON.  OLIVER  PERCY  MORTON. 

Birth  and  early  life — Testimony  of  his  instructor — Enters  Miami  university — Studies  law — Mar- 
ries— Acquires  distinction  in  the  legal  profession — Leaves  the  Democratic  fur  the  Republican 
party— Is  nominated  for  Governor  in  1856,  but  defeated — His  great  ability  as  displayed  in  the 
canvass — His  energy  and  tact  in  the  thorough  organization  of  the  Republican  party — Is  nomi- 
nated for  Lieutenant-Governor  in  1860,  and  elected — Governor  Law  chosen  Senator,  and 
Lieutenant-Governor  Morton  becomes  Governor — Condition  of  affairs  in  Indiana  at  this 
time — Corruption  and  fraud — Seccssionism — He  commits  the  State  to  loyalty — His  exertions 
to  send  troops  into  the  field — He  sends  State  agents  to  care  for  Indiana  soldiers — The  condi- 
tion of  Kentucky— He  ascertains  the  plans  of  the  rebels  there — Sends  aid  to  the  Union  men 
at  Louisville  and  elsewhere — The  Kentucky  Unionists  adopt  him  as  their  Governor — The 
Indiana  soldier — Governor  Morton's  fidelity  to  the  absent  troops — Malicious  charges  of  his 
enemies — He  is  triumphantly  vindicated — His  influence  with  the  Government — The  "Order 
of  American  Knights" — Their  hatred  of  Governor  Morton — Their  falsehoods — The  "  butter- 
nut ticket" — The  copperhead  Legislature — Their  insults  to  the  Governor — They  refuse  to 
pass  the  appropriation  bills — Their  intention  to  embarrass  Governor  Morton — His  course— 
The  bureau  of  finance — He  is  re-nominated  for  Governor — His  overwhelming  labors  at  this 
time — His  re-election  by  a  sweeping  majority — His  complete  overthrow  of  the  "Sons  of 
Liberty"  organization — His  zeal  for  the  soldiers — He  welcomes  them  home — The  exhaustion 
which  followed  when  this  long-continued  tension  was  ever — Paralysis — He  sails  for  Europe — 
His  health  still  feeble — He  is  elected  to  the  Senate — His  services  there — His  speech  on  re- 
construction— The  two  statues 318-SS1 

HON.  RICHARD  YATES. 

fc»  birth  and  education — A  member  of  the  Illinois  Legislature  for  six  years — A  Representative  in 
Congress  in  1851-5 — Elected  Governor  of  Illinois  in  I860 — His  patriotism  and  energy — TTia 
extraordinary  labors  in  raising  troops  in  1861-62— His  letter  to  President  Lincoln— Its  ap- 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

PAOE 

peal  for  the  employment  of  all  loyal  men,  white  or  black,  in  putting  down  fhe  rebellion- 
Governor  Yates's  success  in  raising  troops— His  eloquent  appeal  to  the  Illinois  Legislature — 
The  outrageous  conduct  of  the  Legislature — Their  determination  to  thwart  his  measures — 
Governor  Yates  prorogues  them  to  December  31st,  1864,  when  the  legal  existence  of  the 
Legislature  would  terminate — His  constant  and  earnest  labors  for  the  soldiers — His  election 
to  the  U.  S.  Senate — The  reports  in  relation  to  his  intemperance — His  letter  to  his  con- 
stituents— His  moral  courage, 332-338 

HON.  GEORGE   S.  BOUTWELL. 

Birth,  lineage,  and  education — In  a  country  store — The  old  library — Self-culture — His  earnestness 
as  a  student — He  studies  law — A  public  lecturer — A  political  speaker — A  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature  for  seven  years  out  of  nine — Other  offices  held  by  Mr.  Boutwell— 
A  candidate  for  Congress — Nominated  for  Governor,  and  elected  in  1851  and  1852— In  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1853 — For  ten  years  a  member  of  the  board  of  education,  and 
for  five  years  its  secretary — Literary  and  scientific  honors — His  interest  in  agriculture — His 
anti-slavery  views — Member  of  the  Peace  Congress  in  1S61 — Commissioner  of  internal 
revenue  in  1S61-G2 — Member  of  Thirty-eighth,  Thirty-ninth,  and  Fortieth  Congresses — A 
manager  in  the  Impeachment — His  habits  of  mind — His  effectiveness  as  a  speaker 339-344 

HON.  REVERDY  JOHNSON. 

Birth  and  lineage — He  studies  law — Reports  the  decisions  of  the  Court  of  Appeals — Appointed 
deputy  attorney-general  of  Maryland — Removes  to  Baltimore— Civil  appointments — Elected 
State  Senator — Serves  for  four  years — Resigns  to  devote  himself  to  his  extensive  practice- 
Senator  in  Congress  1845-49 — Attorney-General  United  States,  1849-50 — Retires  from  office— 
His  reputation  as  a  jurist — Delegate  to  Peace  Conference,  1861 — U.  S.  Senator,  1863-69 — His 
course  during  the  rebellion — His  devotion  to  the  Constitution — On  the  committee  on  recon- 
struction— His  arguments  in  the  Senate— The  judicial  character  of  his  mind 345-347 

HON.  JAMES  W.  NYE. 

Prevalent  ideas  concerning  the  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  from  the  new  States— 
Their  erroneousness — Senator  Nyo'a  birth  and  early  education — His  study  of  the  law — Comes 
to  New  York — Enters  political  life — His  eloquence — The  measures  he  advocated — Police 
commissioner  in  New  York — His  labors  in  Iho  Fremont  and  Lincoln  campaigns — Appointed 
Governor  of  Nevada  Territory — Elected  Senator  from  Nevada  in  1865,  and  subsequently,  for 
six  years  from  1867 — His  labors  in  the  Senate — Accompanies  the  body  of  President  Lincoln 
to  Illinois .' 348-360 

REV.  WILLIAM   GANNAWAY  BROWNLOW. 

His  birth  and  ancestry — Early  struggles — His  early  education  imperfect  and  irregular — Leariis  a 
trade — Goes  to  school— Enters  the  Methodist  ministry — His  political  experiences  in  South 
Carolina— Controversy  on  slavery — His  prediction — His  account  of  his  political  creed — Estab- 
lishes tho  Knoxville  Whig  in  1837 — Its  character — "  The  Fighting  Parson" — Discussion  with 
Rev.  J.  R.  Graves— Debate  with  Rev.  Abrain  Payne— Brownlow  for  tho  Union  uncondition- 
ally— H°  is  persecuted  by  tho  secessionists — His  paper  stopped — His  imprisonment  for  four 
months — Sent  into  the  Union  lines — Makes  a  tour  of  the  Northern  States—"  Brownlow's 
Book" — Residence  in  Ohio — Returns  to  Nashville  and  Kuoxville — He  re-establishes  his 
paper  under  the  title  of  "  The  Knoxville  Whig  and  Rebel  Ventilator" — Its  fearless  denun- 
ciation of  rebels — Ho  has  gradually  become  a  Radical — Elected  Governor  of  Tennessee  in 
1865,  and  re-elected  in  1867— Elected  U.  S.  Senator  for  six  years  from  March,  1869— His  ac- 
count of  himself— His  intensity  of  expression 351-358 

GOVERNOR  RICHARD  J.  OGLESBY. 

Birth  and  early  training— Studies  law— Volunteers  for  the  Mexican  war— Promoted  to  a  first 
lieutenancy — Returns  and  resumes  his  practice — Crosses  the  plains  to  California — Returns 
to  Illinois  in  1851— Elected  to  the  Legislature  in  1852— Makes  a  tour  through  Europe  and 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

PAGE 

the  East  in  1856-57 — Nominated  for  Congress  but  defeated — Elected  to  the  State  Senate  in 
I860 — Colonel  8th  Illinois  infantry — Promoted  to  bo  Brigadier-General — Foremost  in  every 
battle — Severely  wounded  at  Corinth,  October  4th,  1862 — Promoted  to  Major-Generalship— 
Reports  for  duty  April  1st,  1863 — Commands  left  wing  of  16th  army  corps — His  wounds 
compel  his  resignation — Nominated  for  Governor  of  Illinois,  and  elected  November  186i — 
Opens  the  great  fair  at  Chicago,  May,  1865 — His  patriotism 359-362 

HON.  GALUSHA  A.  GROW. 

B::;h  and  early  training — Removal  to  Pennsylvania — Struggles  of  his  mother  to  support  and 
educate  her  boys — Enters  Amherst  college — Graduates  with  high  honors — Studies  and  prac- 
tices law — His  success — Nominated  for  Congress  in  1850 — Circumstances  of  the  nomination- 
Elected — Re-elected  by  very  large  majorities  to  five  successive  Congresses — Defeated  by  a 
new  apportionment  in  1862 — Feeble  health — Goes  to  Europe  in  1855 — Makes  a  tour  in  the 
Western  Territories  in  Is57 — Hia  industry  and  efficiency  in  Congress — "  Father  of  the  Home- 
stead Bill" — His  speech  on  the  subject — Opposes  slavery  steadily — Speech  on  the  Brooks- 
Sumuer  outrage — Postal  Reform — Speaker  of  the  House,  1861-63 — Volunteers  for  defence  of 
Washington — His  character  and  record 363-370 

HON.  EDWIN  D.  MORGAN. 

Advantages  of  business  training  in  public  affairs — Birth  of  Mr.  Morgan — His  clerkship— Be- 
comes a  partner — Removes  to  New  York — His  business  enterprise  and  success — Alderman — 
Commissioner  of  Emigration — Avows  himself  a  Republican — Nominated  for  Governor  in 
1858,  and  elected — Re-elected  in  1860 — His  great  labors  and  responsibilities  during  the 
first  two  years  of  the  war — Major-General  of  Volunteers — Will  not  receive  pay — Sends  for- 
ward 223,000  troops — Elected  United  States  Senator — His  course  in  the  Senate — Offered  the 
position  of  Secretary  of  Treasury,  but  declines  it 371-374 

HON.   CHARLES  SUMNER. 

Bii'tii — Ancestry — Education — Eminence  as  a  scholar— Studies  law — His  great  attainments  in 
the  literature  of  the  law— Edits  tho  "  American  Jurist" — Reporter  to  the  Circuit  Court — 
Simmer's  Reports — Lecturer  in  the  law  school,  and  editor  of  law  treatises — Visits  Europe — 
His  cordial  reception  there — Incidents — Return  to  America — Devotes  himself  to  law  studies, 
and  to  lecturing  on  law — Oration  on  "  the  true  grandeur  of  nations" — Offered  a  place  as  Judge 
Story's  successor  in  the  Law  School — Determines  to  enter  political  life  as-  an  Abolitionist — 
His  public  addresses  on  slavery — Associates  himself  with  tho  Free-Soil  party — Elected 
United  States  Senator  in  1851 — His  avowed  position — His  great  speeches  on  slavery — Tho 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill — "  Tho  worst  and  best  bill  at  the  same  time" — Anti-slavery  speeches 
out  of  Congress — His  eloquence — His  speech  on  "  The  crime  against  Kansas" — The  murder- 
ous assault  of  Brooks  and  his  associates  upon  Mr.  Sumner — The  effect  upon  the  nation — 
The  distressing  result  of  the  injuries  inflicted  upon  Mr.  Sumner — His  recovery,  and  return 
to  his  place  in  the  Senate — His  oration  on  "  The  barbarism  of  slavery" — His  opposition  to 
all  compromise — Advocates  universal  emancipation — Chairman  of  committee  on  foreign  re- 
•lutions — His  great  services  in  the  Senate  during  the  war — His  published  Orations,  and  other 
works — Character 375-388 

HON.  HENRY  WILSON. 

Hi;'.!; — Early  struggles  with  poverty — His  thirst  for  knowledge — His  reply  to  Senator  Ham- 
mond— He  enters  a  shoe  shop  to  learn  the  trade — Attempts  to  obtain  a  collegiate  education 
— He  is  foiled  by  fraud — In  the  academy — Visit  to  Washington — Discussion — Return  to 
Xatick  and  shoemaking — Enters  political  life — Elected  to  the  Legislature — State  Senator — 
Petitions  against  admission  of  Texas  as  a  slave  State — Speech  in  opposition  to  farther  ex- 
tension and  longer  existence  of  slavery  in  America — Becomes  a  Free-Soiler  in  1848 — Edits 
the  Boston  Republican — Again  in  the  Legislature — State  Senator — Originates  the  coali- 
tion—Candidate for  Congress,  and  for  Governor — Elected  United  States  Senator  in  1855,  as 
successor  to  Edward  Everett — Horror  of  the  old  line  Whigs — Mr.  Wilson's  qualifications  for 


CONTENTS. 

RAM 

the  position — He  is  twice  re-elected — His  hostility  to  slavery — His  defiance  of  the  Southern 
leaders — The  attack  on  Mr.  Suinner  "  brutal,  murderous,  and  cowardly" — Brooks's  chal- 
lenge— Wilson's  reply — Brooks  silenced — Wilson's  courage — Chairman  of  military  affairs — 
His  incessant  labors  in  that  committee  and  in  the  Senate— Incidents  of  the  early  days  of  the 
war — General  Scott's  appreciation  of  his  services — His  military  service — Raises  two  regi- 
ments— Volunteer  aid  on  General  McClellan's  staff — The  General's  regret  at  his  resignation 
—Military  measures  originated  by  him — Mr.  Cameron's  opinion — His  intercourse  with  Sec- 
retary Stanton — Mr.  Wilson's  constant  exertions  in  behalf  of  the  army — Other  measures 
advocated  by  him— Anti-slavery  legislation — The  Freedmen's  Bureau  Bill— His  zeal  for  the 
oppressed — His  character — A  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency 389-408 

HON.  JOHN   SHERMAN. 

His  ancestry — The  family  large — John  sent  to  Mount  Vernon,  Ohio,  to  school — At  fourteen  be- 
gins to  earn  his  own  way — Studies  civil  engineering  with  Colonel  Curtis — Curtis  removed 
from  office,  and  Sherman  discharged — Wants  to  go  to  college,  but  cannot  accomplish  it — 
Studies  law  and  literature,  and  works  as  a  law  clerk,  all  at  the  same  time — Admitted  to  the 
bar — In  partnership  with  his  brother  Charles — In  political  life — Delegate  to  national  con- 
ventions— Presidential  elector — Elected  to  Congress — His  services  there — Re-elected  three 
times — Chosen  United  States  Senator,  in  Mr.  Chase's  place,  in  1861,  and  re-elected  in  1867 — 
His  labors  on  the  finance  committee — His  bill  to  fund  the  public  indebtedness — His  support 
of  home  industry — Action  on  reconstruction — His  new  funding  bill  in  XLth  Congress — Its 
provisions — His  defence  of  it — Personal  appearance 409-419 

HON.  LYMAN   TRUMBULL. 

Birth  and  parentage — His  education — Removal  to  Georgia — Admission  to  the  bar — Removal  to 
Illinois  and  settlement  in  Chicago — Election  to  the  State  Legislature — Becomes  Secretary  of 
State — Justice  of  the  Supremo  Court  of  Illinois— Representative  in  Congress — Election  to 
the  U.  S.  Senate — Twice  re-elected — His  opposition  to  secession — Advocacy  of  conciliation— 
Chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee — He  moves  an  amendment  to  the  Confiscation  Bill- 
Advocates  and  defends  the  Emancipation  Proclamation — Sustains  the.  act  suspending  the 
habeas  corpus — Defends  the  first  Freedman's  Bureau  Bill,  attaching  an  amendment  provid- 
ing for  permanent  confiscation  of  rebel  property — Aided  in  drawing  up  the  second  and  third 
Freedmen's  Bureau  Bills — Presented  the  Civil  Rights  Bill — His  course  in  regard  to  the  im- 
peachment of  the  President 420-424 

HON.  SAMUEL  C.  POMEROY. 

Personal  appearance — Parentage — Education — A  student  at  Amherst  college— In  business — Tho 
Wayne  County  Liberty  Party  Convention — Returns  to  Massachusetts — A  member  of  the 
Legislature  in  1852 — Mr.  Pomeroy's  opposition  to  slavery — Anthony  Burns — Eloquent  ap- 
peal— The  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill — Mr.  Pomeroy's  zeal  and  activity — The  N.  E.  Emigrant's 
Aid  Society — Mr.  Pomeroy,  agent — His  incessant  and  protracted  labors — Mrs.  Pomeroy's 
heroism — The  journey  to  Kansas — The  Bible  and  spelling-book — Governors  Rceder  and 
Geary — The  border  ruffians — He  gets  possession  of  the  town  of  Atcheson  and  its  news- 
paper— Stumps  the  State  against  the  Lecompton  fraud — The  famine — "Seed  Corn  Pomeroy" — 
His  great  efforts  to  feed  the  starving — Chosen  U.  S.  Senator — Re-elected  in  1807 — A  Radical 
in  the  best  sense — "  The  Slaveholder's  Rebellion" — Other  measures — His  character 425-433 

HON.  CORNELIUS   COLE. 

Birth— Early  education — Graduates  from  Wesleyan  university,  Conn. — Studies  law — Admitted  to 
the  Oswego  bar — Emigrates  to  California  overland — Digs  gold— In  1850  commences  the  prac- 
tice of  law  in  Sail  Francisco — His  opposition  to  slavery — Defends  some  negroes  whom  it  was 
sought  to  reduce  to  slavery  again — Marries — Edits  the  Sacramento  Daily  Times — Returns 
to  the  practice  of  his  profession — District  Attorney  for  Sacramento — Elected  Representative 
in  Congress  in  1863 — His  speeches  on  the  China  mail  line — On  slavery — The  Constitutional 
amendment  for  its  abolition — A  friend  of  Mr.  Lincoln — Re-elected  to  the  House,  but  chosen 
Senator  by  the  Legislature  in  December,  1865 434-440 


CONTEXTS.  XIX 

HON.  THADDEUS   STEVENS. 

PAOI 

His  two  periods  of  public  service — His  birth  and  early  training — Education  at  Dartmouth  college 
—Removal  to  Pennsylvania — Teaches,  and  studies  law  at  the  same  time— Admitted  to  the 
bar— Gains  a  large  practice — Enters  upon  a  political  career — In  the  Pennsylvania  legisla- 
ture—Member of  Constitutional  convention,  but  refused  to  sign  the  Constitution  because  it 
restricted  suffrage  on  account  of  color — The  imbroglio  of  the  governors,  Ritner  and  Porter — 
Stevens  said  to  be  "  Governor  miner's  conscience-keeper" — A  canal  commissioner — Removal 
to  Lancaster — Manufacturing — Abandons  politics — A  member  of  the  XXXIst  and  XXXTId 
Congresses — Opposes  the  Kansas-Nebraska  and  other  bills  in  the  interest  of  slavery— Re- 
mains at  home  for  six  years — Elected  to  the  XXXVIth  Congress,  and  each  one  since— The 
leader  of  the  House — The  measures  he  has  initiated  and  supported — His  part  in  the  Im- 
peachment trial — His  able  plea — He  favors  impartial  suffrage — Mr.  W.  H.  Barnes's  descrip- 
tion of  him — His  grim  humor _ 441-447 

BEXJAMIN   FRANKLIN  BUTLER. 

Moral  and  physical  qualities  often  inherited — General  Butler's  ancestry — His  birth — Death  of 
his  father — Fitted  for  college — Enters  Waterville  college,  Maine — Graduates — Studies  law- 
Voyage  to  Labrador — His  indomitable  energy,  and  fondness  for  work — His  interest  in  poli- 
tics— A  democrat — Delegate  to  national  conventions — A  coalitionist  in  1852 — A  member  of 
the  legislature,  and  of  the  constitutional  convention — Opposes  the  Know-Nothing  party 
vehemently — Deprived  of  his  command  as  colonel  by  Governor  Gardner — He  is  elected 
Brigadier-General  by  the  militia  officers,  and  receives  his  commission  from  Governor  Gard- 
ner— Runs  for  Governor  in  1858  and  1859,  but  is  defeated — A  member  of  the  State  Senate — 
The  measures  advocated — A  delegate  to  the  Charleston  Democratic  convention  in  1860 — Hia 
opposition  to  southern  aggressions  there — Nominates  Breckinridge — Unpopular  at  home—- 
Runs again  for  Governor,  but  is  badly  defeated — Visits  Washington — His  eyes  opened — He 
returns  home  and  urges  Governor  Andrew  to  prepare  for  war— Starts  for  Washington  with 
three  regiments,  one  having  gone  the  previous  day,  April  18, 1861 — Landing  at  Annapolis — 
The  march  from  Annapolis  to  Washington — Laying  track  all  the  way — In  command  of  the 
department  of  Annapolis — Baltimore  in  rebel  hands — He  takes  possession  of  the  city — At 
Fortress  Monroe — Big  Bethel — Slaves  "  contraband  of  war" — Expedition  to  Fort  Hatteras— 
The  New  Orleans  expedition — Butler  commands  the  land  forces — Ship  Island — He  takes  pos- 
session of  New  Orleans — His  occupation  and  government  of  the  city — What  he  accomplished 
— He  is  relieved  of  his  command — His  services  elsewhere  in  1863 — The  New  York  riots— In 
command  of  the  army  of  the  James — The  attack  on  Petersburg — The  Dutch  Gap  canal — 
Subsequent  movements — Expedition  against  Fort  Fisher — Failure — Subsequent  reduction 
of  the  fort  by  Admiral  Porter  and  General  Terry — General  Butler  elected  to  the  XLth  Con- 
gress— One  of  the  managers  in  the  Impeachment  trial — His  opening  plea — His  character 
and  ability  as  a  lawyer — Incidents  illustrative  of  his  satirical  power — He  squelches  Fer- 
nando Wood 443-465 


HON.  WILLIAM   D.  KELLEY. 

Bu  th — Parentage — Early  struggles — Removal  to  Boston — Becomes  skilled  in  the  art  of  enam- 
elling— Contributes  to  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  and  gains  some  reputation  as  a  writer — 
Removes  to  Philadelphia — Studies  law,  and  is  admitted  to  the  bar — Is  appointed  attorney- 
general  of  the  State — Elected  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas — Re-elected  upon  an 
independent  ticket — Extracts  from  an  address  before  the  Linnasan  Society  of  Pennsylvania 
college — Was  nominated  as  the  Republican  candidate  for  Congress,  but  not  elected — Elected 
and  three  times  returned — Was  council  for  the  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  the  pirates 
of  the  rebel  privateer  "  Jeff.  Davis" — Speech  on  impartial  suffrage — Other  important  speeches 
in  Congress  and  abroad — Introduction  of  a  bill  securing  the  right  of  suffrage  to  the  colored 
population  of  the  District  of  Columbia — Visit  to  the  Southern  States — Opposition  to  Mr. 
Johnson's  policy — High  character 466-474 


XX  CONTENTS. 

HON.  JOHN  A.  BINGHAM. 

PAGS 

Mr.  Bingham's  conceded  ability  as  a  member  of  Congress,  a  debater,  and  a  lawyer— His  birth 
and  education — He  studies  and  practices  law  with  distinction— Election  to  Congress  in  1854 — 
Re-elected  five  times — He  is  assigned  a  prominent  place  on  important  committees,  and  distin- 
guishes himself— Judge-advocate  in  the  Union  army  in  1864,  and  solicitor  in  tbe  court  of 
claims— Assistant  judge-advocate,  in  the  trial  of  the  assassins  of  President  Lincoln— Contro- 
versy with  General  Butler— A  manager  in  the  Impeachment  trial— His  personal  appear- 
ance   *'  ^~~^ ' ' 

HON.  JAMES  F.  WILSON. 

His  eminence  as  a  lawyer — Birth  and  education — Removes  to  I'airfield,  Iowa — A  member  of  the 
Iowa  constitutional  convention — Civil  appointments — Chosen  State  Senator — Re-elected,  and 
made  president  of  the  Senate — Manifests  remarkable  ability — Elected  to  Congress,  and 
thrice  re-elected — Appointed  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  on  the  part  of  the  House — 
A  very  high  honor  for  so  young  a  member — Acquits  himself  with  great  ability — His  speech 
ou  granting  impartial  suffrage  in  the  District  of  Columbia — One  of  the  Impeachment  mana- 
gers   478-481 

HON.    ROSCOE   CONKLING. 

Circumstances  of  Mr.  Conkling's  first  election  to  Congress — His  birth  and  lineage — His  educa- 
tion— He  studies  law — Appointed  district  attorney  for  Oueida  county — Mayor  of  Utica — 
Elected  to  Congress — Thrice  re-elected — He  detects  and  convicts  some  parties  of  frauds 
against  the  government — The  "  ring"  determine  to  crush  him — The  exciting  Congressional 
canvass  of  1866 — Mr.  Conkling  elected  to  the  U.  S.  Senate  in  January,  1867 — His  intense 
radicalism — The  case  of  Judge  Patterson,  of  Tennessee— Mr.  Conkling's  speech 4S2-4S5 

MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  A.   LOGAN. 

Birth,  and  early  advantages  of  education — Scarcity  of  schools  in  Illinois  at  that  time — Enlists 
in  the  Mexican  war — Is  promoted  to  be  lieutenant  and  adjutant — Returns  home  and  studies 
law — Elected  county  clerk — Admitted  to  tho  bar — Elected  Prosecuting  attorney  of  third 
judicial  district — Sent  to  the  Legislature — Married — Chosen  presidential  elector — Elected  to 
Congress  in  1858  and  in  1860 — Joins  the  army  as  a  private  at  tho  battle  of  Bull  Run — Re- 
turns home  to  stir  up  his  constituents  to  enlist — Colonel  31st  Illinois  volunteers — In  battle 
of  Belniont— At  Fort  McIIenry — Wounded  at  Fort  Donelson — Brigadier-general  at  Shiloh — 
In  command  at  Jackson,  Tennessee — Major-general  of  volunteers,  November  29,  1S62 — 
Takes  part  in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg — Saves  the  day  at  Raymond,  Mississippi,  May  12,  1863 
— Makes  the  assault,  June  25,  on  Vicksburg — His  column  the  first  to  enter  the  city  of 
Vicksburg  after  its  surrender — He  is  made  its  military  governor — On  furlough  at  the  north 
in  tho  autumn  of  1863,  speaking  in  behalf  of  tho  Union — Commands  tho  fifteenth  army 
corps  from  November,  1863 — Takes  part  in  the  march  to  Atlanta  and  its  terrible  fighting — 
"  McPherson  and  revenge" — In  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1864 — Jcins  his  corps  at  Sa- 
vannah, and  marches  through  the  Carolinas — Commander  of  the  army  of  the  Tennessee — 
Appointed  minister  to  Mexico,  but  declined — Elected  to  tho  XLth  Congress  from  the  State 
at  large,  receiving  fifty-six  thousand  majority — One  of  the  Impeachment  managers — Charac- 
ter and  personal  appearance 486-490 

HON.   HENRY  J.   RAYMOND. 

Birth  and  childhood — T^ai-ly  struggles  fir  education — Enters  college,  and  graduates  from  tho 
University  of  Vermont  in  1840 — Goes  to  New  York — Commences  the  study  of  the  law,  sup- 
porting himself  by  literary  labor — His  connection  with  the  J\'cw  Yorker  and  the  Cincinnati 
Chronicle — Becomes  attached  to  the  staff  of  the  Tribune  in  April,  1841 — Labors  as  reporter — 
His  reports  of  Lardner's  and  Lyell's  lectures — Becomes  an  editor  of  the  Courier  and  En- 
quirer— Edits  Harper's  Monthly  for  ten  years — The  Fourier  discussion — Elected  to  the  Leg- 
islature—Re-elected in  1850,  and  chosen  speaker — Visits  Europe — Eotablibhes  the  XcwYork 


CONTENTS.  XXI 

PAGE 

Times — A  member  of  Whig  National  Convention  in  852 — Exciting  scene — Nominated  for 
Lieutenant-Governor,  and  elected  by  a  coalition — Joins  the  Republican  party — Writes  the 
Address  to  the  People,  of  the  National  Convention  at  Pittsburg — Supports  and  canvasses  for 
Fremont — Visits  Europe  again,  and  as  an  eye-witness  describes  the  battle  of  Solforino — En- 
gages actively  in  the  canvass  for  Lincoln  in  I860 — Letters  to  Yancey — His  support  of  the 
Government  during  the  war — His  Wilmington  speech — Elected  to  Congress  in  1864 — His  po- 
sition that  of  a  moderate  Republican — The  charge  of  political  inconsistency — Its  injustice — 
His  speeches  and  votes  in  Congress — The  Philadelphia  Convention  of  August,  1866 — Mr. 
Raymond  secretary,  and  writer  of  the  address — Failure  of  the  convention — Mr.  Raymond 
withdraws  from  politics — His  ability  as  a  writer  and  editor — His  published  works — His  tal- 
ents as  a  public  speaker 491-503 

CORNELIUS   VANDERBILT. 

His  ancestry — His  birth — Not  fond  of  books — Incidents  of  his  boyhood — The  boat — Resolutions 
and  pertinacity  of  purpose — The  purchase  of  the  perriauger — Confidence  of  "  Corneile  the 
boatman" — "  Carry  them  under  water  part  of  the  way" — His  stout  defence  of  his  rights — 
Marriage — The  new  perriauger  and  the  schooner — Worth  §9000 — Captain  of  a  steamboat — 
Plies  between  New  York  and  New  Brunswick — Keeps  a  hotel  also — Leases  the  New  York 
and  Elizabethport  ferrj- — His  success  in  all  these  enterprises — The  Livingston  monopoly — 
Captain  Vanderbilt's  expedient  to  avoid  arrest — The  monopoly  pronounced  void — Vanderbilt 
in  business  for  himself — He  builds  and  runs  lines  of  steamers  on  the  Hudson,  the  Sound,  and 
elsewhere — Opposition  lines — His  triumphs — The  Nicaragua  transit — Mr.  Vanderbilt's  energy 
and  enterprise — Makes  the  tour  of  Europe  in  his  own  steamship,  the  "  North  Star" — His 
reception — Discerns  the  necessity  of  increased  facilities  of  communication  with  Europe — Pro- 
position to  Government — It  is  not  accepted — Establishes  an  independent  line  of  fast  steamers 
to  Havre — One  of  his  steamers,  the  Vanderbilt,  makes  the  best  time  of  any  steamer  on  the 
Atlantic — His  subsequent  gift  of  this  steamer  to  the  Government — Resolution  of  thanks  by 
Congress — His  title  of  Commodore — Never  insures  either  vessel  or  cargo — Vanderbilt  the 
RAILROAD  KIXG — Harlem  R.  R. — Hudson  River  R.  R. — New  York  Central  R.  R. — Erie  R.  R. — 
The  possible  future  Lord  Paramount  of  Railroads — His  affection  for  his  mother — Kindness 
of  heart— Personal  appearance 504-519 

ABIEL  ABBOT   LOW. 

The  enterprise  and  energy  of  the  great  merchant  as  worthy  of  record  as  the- victories  of  the  war- 
rior— Mr.  Low's  title  to  honor  and  esteem — Birth — Early  education  for  business — Removal 
to  Brooklyn — Residence  in  China — Partnership  there — Return  to  America — Establishes  the 
house  of  A.  A.  Low  &  Brothers — Takes  the  lead  in  the  China  trade — Establishes  a  Japan 
house — Losses  during  the  war — His  large-handed  liberality — President  of  New  York  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce — His  ability  as  a  presiding  officer — His  thorough  patriotism  and  cheerful- 
ness— His  assistance  to  the  Government — Mr.  Low  in  private  life 520-523 

JAY    COOKE. 

Robert  Morris  and  Jay  Cooke — Lineage  of  the  Cooke  family — Eleutheros  Cooke — His  talents, 
eminence,  and  position — Birth  of  Jay  Cooke — His  father's  care  for  the  education  of  his  chil- 
dren—Jay determines  to  earn  for  himself— Enters  Mr.  Hubbard's  store  as  clerk — Goes  to 
St.  Louis  as  bookkeeper  and  cleric — Returns  to  Sandusky — Bookkeeper  for  his  brother-in-law 
in  Philadelphia — The  firm  broken  up — Returns  to  Sandusky — Is  offered  a  position  by  E.  W. 
Clark  &  Co. — Accepts,  and  is  i-.i  high  favor — Becomes  a  partner  at  21 — The  barkeeper  story — 
Its  falsity — Jay  Cooke's  kindness — He  becomes  the  active  business  manager  and  leading 
partner  in  the  firm  of  E.  W.  Clark  &  Co. — Writes  the  first  money  article  in  a  Philadelphia 
paper — Retires  from  the  firm  in  1858  with  a  handsome  fortune — Forms  a  partnership  with 
his  brother-in-law  in  1S61,  under  the  name  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Co. — Object  of  this  partnership—- 
Negotiates State  and  Government  loans — The  popular  loan  of  fifty  millions  in  1861 — Jay 
Cooke  &  Co.  place  one  third  of  the  amount  taken — The  agency  for  the  five  hundred  millions 
of  five-twenties — Jay  Cooke  appointed  agent — The  risk  and  responsibility  of  the  undertak- 
ing— Government  takes  no  risks — His  excessive  labors — The  gloomy  outlook  at  first — The  final 


CONTENTS. 

PA(J3 

great  success — His  compensation  for  this  work  very  small — Mr.  Chase's  economy — Mr.  Chase 
attempts  to  float  a  ten-forty  loan — Advance  in  price  of  gold — The  national  banking  system — 
Its  struggles  at  first — Increasing  demand  of  the  Government  for  money — Mr.  Chase  re- 
signs—Mr. Fessenden  appointed  Secretary — Gold  still  rising — Mr.  Fossenden  applies  to  Mr. 
Cooke  to  sell  the  now  seven-thirties — His  agencies  again  in  operation — The  efforts  put 
forth — Success — End  of  the  rebellion — Operations  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Co.  since  the  war — Mr. 
Cooke's  liberality — The  rest  for  hard-worked  persons 524-638 

HON.  HUGH  McCULLOCH. 

Birth — President  of  the  State  Bank  of  Indiana — Comptroller  of  the  currency— Succeeds  Mr. 
Fessenden  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury — His  financial  views — His  management— Sympa- 
thizes with  Mr.  Johnson 533 

GEORGE  PEABODY. 

Mr.  Peabody  the  most  princely  giver  of  modern  times — His  birth — Adverse  circumstances—- 
Brief opportunities  of  early  education — A  clerk  at  eleven  years  of  age — A  partner  in  a  busi- 
ness house  at  seventeen — A  partner  in  the  wholesale  dry-goods  trade  at  nineteen — Removed 
to  Baltimore — Branch  houses  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia  in  1822 — Tisits  Europe — The 
head  of  the  house  of  Peabody,  Riggs  &  Co. — Visits  Europe  often — Takes  up  his  residence 
there  in  1837 — Withdraws  from  the  firm  in  1843,  and  establishes  a  banking  house  to  deal  in 
American  securities — His  reputation  for  integrity  and  high  honor — His  kindness  to  Ameri- 
cans— Crystal  palace  exhibition — Mr.  Peabody's  liberality — The  toast  to  the  Danvers 
bi-centennial— Donations  to  Danvers — Contributes  to  the  Grinuell  Arctic  Expedition — His 
gifts  for  the  founding  of  the  Baltimore  Institute— Lodgings  for  the  poor  of  London — The 
Queen's  acknowledgment  of  his  generosity — Visit  to  the  United  States  in  1866 — The  educa- 
tional fund  of  $2,100,000— The  noble  gifts  to  Harvard  and  Yale— Other  donations— Five 
millions  of  dollars  in  gifts 540-545 

HOEACE   GREELEY. 

Birth — Family  history — Hardships  in  early  life — Picking  stones — His  thirst  for  knowledge — His 
cleverness  at  spelling — The  spelling  match — His  eagerness  in  study — His  father  removed  to 
Bedford,  New  Hampshire — More  hard  work — His  early  choice  of  a  vocation — His  father's 
failure — Removal  to  Vermont — Boy  life  in  Vermont — Bee  hunting — Teetotalism — Becomes  a 
Universalist — Commences  to  learn  the  printer's  trade — The  printing-office  at  East  Poultney, 
Vermont — The  debating  society— His  extraordinary  memory — The  fugitive  slave  chase—- 
The paper  discontinued— Mr.  Greeley  works  at  Sodus,  New  York,  and  at  Erie,  Pennsylvania 
— Resolves  to  try  his  fortunes  in  New  York  city — His  description  of  his  entry  into  the  me- 
tropolis— His  early  experiences — The  pocket  Testament — Other  work — He  undertakes  to 
publish  a  newspaper — partnership  wiiii  Mr.  Winchester — The  JVeJw  Yorker  prosperity — Mar- 
riage—The  crisis  of  1837 — Living  through  it — Mr.  Gi  polijy  edits  also  the  Jrffcrsonian  in  1838, 
andtheio;?  Cabin  in  "iS-iO — Starting  the  Tribune — His  success — Mr.  McElrath  a  partner — 
Fourierism — The  monthly  American  Laborer — Book  publishing — The  Evening  and  Semi- 
Weekly  Tribune — Burning  of  the  Tribune  office— Mr.  Greeley  in  Congress — Great  success  of 
the  Tribune — Becomes  an  Association— Mr.  Grecley's  "  Hints  towards  reform" — Visits  Eng- 
land— His  services  to  popular  literature  there — Other  books — His  course  during  the  war — 
Mobbing  of  the  office — His  "  History  of  the  American  Conflict" — Personal  character  and 
ways — Peculiarities  of  opinion — The  Tribune  his  idol— His  independence  of  opinion 540-5G7 

WILLIAM  LLOYD   GARRISON. 

Birth— His  mother— Superiority  of  her  mind— His  father— Apprenticeship— Schools— Inden- 
tured to  a  printer— Writes  for  the  paper— Contributes  to  ether  periodicals— Starts  two  or 
three  papers,  but  is  unsuccessful — His  decided  anti-slavery  views — Associates  witli  Benja- 
min Lundy,  in  Baltimore,  as  editor  of  the  Genius  of  Emancipation— His  articles  excite  hos- 
tility— Arrested  and  imprisoned,  ou  the  charge  of  libel — Release  through  Arthur  Tappau's 
efforts— Lectures  on  slavery— Issues  the  first  number  of  the  Liberator  ia  January,  1S31— 


CONTENTS. 

PA61 

His  declarations — Extreme  poverty  of  himself  and  his  partner — His  persecutions — Organ- 
izes the  New  England  Anti-Slavery  Society — Visits  England  in  1833 — His  cordial  reception 
there — American  Anti-Slavery  Society  formed — Mobs — George  Thompson  obliged  to  return 
to  England — Mr.  Garrison  mobbed — Inscription  in  his  cell — The  peace  question — Mr.  Gar- 
rison a  non-resistant — World's  Anti-Slavery  Convention — Woman's  rights — Mr.  Garrison 
again  in  Europe  in  1840 — His  religious  position — His  action  during  the  war — His  efforts  for 
emancipation — Fort  Sumter — At  the  close  of  the  war  withdraws  from  the  American  Anti- 
Slavery  Society — Discontinues  the  Liberator — Visits  England  in  1867 — A  banquet  given  him 
by  John  Bright  and  others — Other  honors — American  testimonial  of  $33,000 — Letter  of  the 
committee — Mr.  Garrison's  reply — His  letter  to  a  friend 665-551 

WENDELL   PHILLIPS. 

Oratory  an  American  gift — What  constitutes  the  most  effective  orator — Is  it  natural  or  acquired 
— Mr.  Phillips'  first  public  oration — His  birth  and  ancestry — Educated  at  the  Boston 
schools,  Harvard  college,  and  Cambridge  law  school — His  remarkable  scholarship — His  fas- 
tidiousness— Danger  from  this — Garrison  mobbed — Phillips'  sympathies  roused — He  avows 
himself  a  co-worker  with  Garrison — The  thirty  years'  contest — His  ideal  always  in  advance 
— The  business  of  his  life — His  gifts  as  a  public  lecturer — The  Lovejoy  murder — Mr.  Phil- 
lips' reply  to  the  attorney-general  at  Faueuil  Hall — Mr.  Phillips  at  the  anniversaries  of  the 
American  Anti-Slavery  Society — His  power  over  his  audiences — He  quells  mobs  by  his  man- 
ner— Incident — Mr.  Delane,  of  the  London  Times — Other  reforms  advocated  by  Mr.  Phillips 
— His  versatility,  and  wide  general  culture — He  does  iiot  consider  his  work  done — His 
peculiarities — Mr.  Phillips  in  private  life 582-689 

REV.  HENRY  WARD   BEECHER. 

His  popularity — Reasons  for  it — Versatility  of  talent — Lectures — Remarkable  industry — Culti- 
vated taste — Extraordinary  intellectual  power  of  the  Beecher  family — Dr.  Lyman  Beecher— 
Birth  of  Henry  Ward — Death  of  his  mother — His  youthful  training — Desire  to  go  to  sea—- 
His love  of  humor  in  college  and  since — His  general  culture — The  Saxon  origin  of  most  of 
his  language — His  theological  course — Not  a  controversialist — Settled  at  Lawrenceburg,  In- 
diana— Called  to  Indianapolis — His  remarkable  popularity  there — Publishes  lectures  to 
young  men — Edits  an  agricultural  paper — Growing  reputation — Called  to  Plymouth  church, 
Brooklyn — Accepts — The  fashion  to  '•  go  and  hear  Beecher" — Peculiarity  of  his  preaching— 
The  crowded  house  maintained — Growth  of  his  church — Increase  of  his  salary — Outside 
work — His  care  of  his  body  and  brain — His  immense  labors — Edits  the  Independent — For 
once  overworked — He  goes  to  Europe — Is  compelled  to  speak  there  in  behalf  of  his  country- 
Mobs — His  success — His  subsequent  labors  for  the  soldiers — His  leaning  to  excessive  mercy 
to  the  South — His  eyes  opened — His  earnest  patriotism 590-602 

HOX.  ANDREW  GREGG    CURIIX. 

Birth  and  education — Ancestry — Studies  law — Admitted  to  the  bar — Takes  an  interest  in  poli- 
tics—Canvasses for  General  Harrison,  for  Henry  Clay,  for  General  Taylor,  and  General 
Scott— On  the  electoral  ticket  in  1848  and  1852 — Declines  nomination  for  Governor — St 
Secretary — Labors  in  behalf  of  education — Devotes  himself  to  the  practice  of  law — A  leading 
railroad  man — Nominated  and  elected  Governor  ia  I860 — His  incessant  labors  in  raisir.g 
troops,  organizing  a  reserve  corps,  and  protecting  Pennsylvania  during  the  war — Invasions 
of  Pennsylvania — Re-elected  in  1863 — Actively  engaged  in  business  since  his  retirement  from 
office — His  political  services — Pressed  by  his  friends  for  Vice-Presidency,  but  withdraws  his 
name C03-C08 

HON.   GERRIT   SMITH. 

His  philanthropy — His  birth,  lineage,  and  education — Studies  law — Vice-President  of  Coloniza- 
tion Society — Withdraws  from  it — His  eloquence — His  anti-slavery  views — Mental  charac- 
teristics- -Philanthropy  on  other  subjects — Temperance — Hostility  to  tobacco — Prison  reform 
— '•  Bleeding  Kansas'' — Land  reform — Gives  away  two  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land, 


CONTENTS. 

PAOI 

mostly  in  small  farms,  and  money  with  each— Troubles  with  his  colonists — John  Brown — 
Elected  to  Congress— Resigns— Attacked  violently  by  the  press  after  the  John  Brown  raid- 
Temporary  insanity — Sustains  the  Government  during  the  war — Helps  to  bail  Jefferson 
Davis— His  religious  views— The  reduction  of  his  estate  by  his  lavish  giving— His  published 
works 607-611 

THEODORE   TILTON. 

Birth  and  education— Early  anti-slavery  training— Prefers  journalism  as  a  calling— Engaged  on    . 
the  Independent — His  advancement — Becomes  editor  in  chief — His  editorials — His  poems — 
Mr.  Tilton  as  a  lecturer — Speech  at  dinner  of  New  England  Society — Personal  appear- 
ance   612-618 

HON.   EZRA  CORNELL. 

Birth—Early  training — Mechanical  genius — Builds  a  house — In  machine  shop — Takes  a  flour- 
ing mill — In  agricultural  business— Becomes  interested  in  telegraphs — Laying  telegraph 
wire  in  pipes — Originates  the  air-line  plan — Opposition  of  public  men  to  telegraph  lines  at 
first — Professor  Renwick — Mr.  Cornell's  success — His  large  investments — President  of  State 
Agricultural  Society — In  State  Senate — The  Cornell  library  at  Ithica — His  magnificent 
benefactions  to  education— The  Cornell  University — Genessee  College — The  agricultural 
land  grant — His  plans — The  noble  character  of  this  beneficence 619-628 

MATTHEW  VASSAR. 

English  birth — Ancestry — Emigration  to  this  country — Settlement  in  Dutchess  county — Sowing 
barley — Making  ale — His  preference  for  other  business — Misfortunes  of  his  father's  family — 
Commences  business  as  a  brewer — His  success— Marriage — Amasses  a  large  fortune — Tour 
in  Europe — His  ideas  of  some  benevolent  enterprise — Different  directions  in  which  his  atten- 
tion was  turned — Decides  on  a  college  for  women — Gives  over  $400,000  toward  it — Called 
VASSAR  COLLEGE — His  views  in  regard  to  it — The  college — Its  perfection  of  arrangements — 
Founder's  Day 629-639 

DANIEL  DREW. 

Birth— <B»rly  education — Removal  to  New  York  city — Steamboat  enterprise— Origin  of  the 
"  People's  Line" — Becomes  a  stock  broker — Founding  of  the  "  Drew  Theological  Seminary" — 
Other  benefactions — Personal  appearance G40-643 

ALEXANDER   TURNEY  STEWART. 

His  store  in  1825  and  1S68 — A  native  of  Belfast,  Ireland— Reared  by  a  Quaker  grandfather — An 
elegant  classical  scholar— Emigrates  to  New  York— A  teacher— Enters  business— Is  dis- 
charged by  one  of  his  salesmen— The  calico  dress—"  You  won't  last  very  long" — Mr.  Stew- 
art's principles  in  business — His  keen  foresight  and  admirable  taste — Great  memory— No 
speculation — His  fondness  for  classical  literature  and  for  the  fine  arts — His  extension  into  all 
the  branches  of  trade— The  great  advantages  of  a  vast  capital  well  managed — Competition 
with  other  houses — Applications  for  charity — His  large  benefactions— Politicai  views — Build- 
ing houses— His  foreign  branches — Income— Houses  for  the  poor 644-653 


GENERAL  ULYSSES  SIMPSON  GRANT. 


all  human  history,  whenever  a  nation  has  been  rent  by 
internal  convulsions,  or  threatened  with  destruction  by 
foreign  invasion,   the   occasion  has  always  developed 
some  great  leader  to  command  its  armies,  or  restore 
peace  between  its  embittered  factions. 

In  tracing  the  lives  of  the  men  thus  called  to  leadership, 
three  facts  constantly  attract  our  notice.  They  are  almost, 
without  exception,  of  and  from  the  people ;  rarely  or  never 
from  the  aristocratic  class.  Though  intelligent  and  thoughtful 
men,  they  have  usually  led  quiet  and  often  obscure  lives  till 
called  to  their  great  duties,  and  not  unseldom,  neither  they  nor 
their  friends  were  aware  of  the  power  which  was  held  in  reserve 
in  them.  And,  finally,  they  have  not  been  the  men  first  selected 
by  popular  acclaim,  for  the  work  which  they  accomplish. 

Our  great  captain  has  been  no  exception  to  these  general 
laws.  He  is  a  man  of  the  people;  though  educated  for  the 
army  and  serving  in  it  for  some  years  in  a  subordinate  capacity, 
his  life  had  been  quiet  and  obscure,  and  neither  he  nor  his 
friends  were  conscious  of  his  possession  of  these  rare  faculties 
which  he  subsequently  displayed.  Moreover,  in  these  days, 
when  General  McClellan  was  regarded  as  "the  coming  man," 

there  seemed  as  little  probability  that  this  plain  taciturn  briga- 
2 


18  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

dier  at  the  West,  would  become  the  general-in-chief  of  all  our 
armies,  and  perhaps  the  President  of  the  United  Stat:fc,  as  that 
the  diminutive  sub-lieutenant  of  the  French  army,  would  be- 
come Emperor  of  France,  and  arbiter  of  the  destinies  of  Europe. 

General  Grant  is  descended  from  Matthew  Grant,  a  native  of 
.Plymouth,  England,  or  its  vicinity,  who  emigrated  to  Dorches- 
ter, Massachusetts,  in  1630,  and  to  Windsor,  Connecticut,  in 
1636.  His  son  and  grandson,  both  named  Samuel,  settled  in 
the  adjacent  town  of  Tolland.  Noah,  a  son  of  the  second 
Samuel,  removed  to  Coventry,  Connecticut,  and  two  of  his  sons, 
Noah  and  Solomon,  were  officers  (captain  and  lieutenant)  in  the 
Provincial  army,  in  the  old  French  war,  and  both  were  slain  at 
Crown  Point,  or  its  vicinity,  in  1756.  Captain  Noah  Grant 
left  a  family  in  Coventry,  and  his  eldest  son,  also  Noah,  entered 
the  Continental  army  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary 
war,  as '  lieutenant  of  militia,  and  remained  in  it  till  its  close, 
and,  though  in  many  battles,  was  never  wounded.  After  the 
war  he  settled  in  Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania,  where  his 
son,  Jesse  Root  Grant,  one  of  a  numerous  family,  was  born,  in 
January,  1794.  The  father  removed  in  1799  to  what  is  now 
Columbiana  county,  and  in  1805  to  Portage  county,  Ohio. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen,  Jesse  was  apprenticed  to  his  half- 
brother,  then  living  at  Maysville,  Kentucky,  to  learn  the  tan- 
ning business,  and  after  serving  his  time,  he  set  up  for  himself  at 
Ravenna,  Portage  county,  Ohio.  Here  several  years  of  toil 
were  followed  by  a  severe  and  protracted  illness  from  inter- 
mittent fever.  In  1820  he  removed  to  Point  Pleasant,  Ohio, 
twenty-five  miles  above  Cincinnati,  and  the  same  year  married 
Miss  Hannah  Simpson,  of  Clermont  county,  Ohio.  Their  eldest 
child,  Ulysses  Simpson  Grant,  or  as  he  was  christened,  Hiram 
Ulysses  Grant,  was  born  at  Point  Pleasant,  April  27,  1822. 

His  father,  who  is  still  living,  an  enterprising  and  shrewd 


GENEBAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSOX   GRANT.  19 

self-reliant  business  man,  was  ready  to  enter  upon  any  honest 
undertaking  which  gave  a  promise  of  success.  He  continued 
his  business  as  a  tanner,  but  did  not  confine  himself  exclusively 
to  that,  and  whatever  he  undertook  prospered.  The  mother 
of  the  general  is  also  still  living,  a  woman  of  sound  judgment, 
and  superior  moral  and  mental  endowments,  marked  and  supe- 
rior moral  and  mental  traits,  a  sincere  and  consistent  Christian, 
whose  steadiness,  firmness,  and  strength  of  character  have  im- 
pressed themselves  indelibly  upon  her  children. 

The  young  Ulysses  is  said  to  have  developed,  almost  from 
infancy,  a  remarkable  passion  for  horses.  From  the  age  of  five 
years,  his  father  states,  he  would  ride  the  horses  to  water,  stand- 
ing up  on  their  bare  backs,  and  at  eight  or  nine  would  stand  up 
on  one  foot  and  drive  them  at  full  speed.  At  seven  and  a  half 
years  he  harnessed  and  drove  a  horse  alone  all  day,  climbing 
into  the  manger  to  put  the  bridle  and  collar  on.  At  eight  and 
a  half,  he  would  drive  a  team  day  after  day  hauling  wood,  and 
at  ten  would  manage  a  pair  of  spirited  horses  on  a  long  journey, 
with  perfect  skill  and  safety.  So  complete  was  his  mastery  of 
horses  that  he  broke  them  with  great  facility,  and  no  horse 
could  throw  him.  From  the  various  incidents  which  his  father, 
with  a  pardonable  pride,  relates  of  him,  we  find  evidence 
of  his  possessing,  even  in  childhood,  the  qualities  of  system, 
method,  calculation,  self-possession,  and  that  cool  imperturbable 
courage  and  persistency  which  have  since  marked  his  character. 
His  judgment  was  beyond  his  years.  Few  boys  in  their  twelfth 
year  could  have  been  trusted  to  go  to  a  large  city  two  hundred 
miles  distant,  and  take  a  deposition  to  be  used  elsewhere  in  a 
lawsuit ;  and  fewer  still,  at  the  same  age,  would  have  had  tlv  > 
judgment  and  mechanical  tact  to  load  upon  a  wagon  a  number 
of  pieces  of  heavy  timber  a  foot  square,  and  fourteen  feet  long 
with  no  aid  except  that  of  a  horse. 


20  MEN    OF    OUE   DAY. 

His  self-possession  and  imperturbability  were  fairly  illus- 
trated in  an  incident  which  ^iis  father  relates  of  him  as  occurring 
when  he  was  about  twelve  years  old. 

"  He  drove  a  pair  of  horses  to  Augusta,  Kentucky,  twelve  miles 
from  Georgetown,  and  was  persuaded  to  remain  over  night,  in 
order  to  bring  back  two  young  ladies,  who  would  not  be  ready 
to  leave  until  the  next  morning.  The  route  lay  across  White 
Oak  Creek.  The  Ohio  river  had  been  rising  in  the  night,  and 
the  back  water  in  the  creek  was  so  high,  when  they  came  to 
cross  it  in  returning,  that  the  first  thing  they  knew  the  horses 
were  swimming,  and  the  water  was  up  to  their  own  waists. 
The  ladies  were  terribly  frightened,  and  began  to  scream.  In 
the  midst  of  the  excitement,  Ulysses,  who  was  on  a  forward 
seat,  looked  back  to  the  ladies,  and  with  an  air  perfectly  undis- 
turbed, merely  said :  '•DorUt  speak — /  will  take  you  through  safe.1 " 

He  was  popular  with  his  schoolfellows  and  the  boys  of  his 
age,  and  though  not  a  talker  or  boaster,  not  tyrannical  or  iir>- 
perious,  not  quarrelsome  or  violent,  he  fell  naturally  into  his 
place  as  a  leader  among  the  boys.  He  was  not  remarkable  as 
a  scholar,  though  fond  of  mathematics  and  maintaining  a 
creditable  position  in  his  studies  generally.  For  the  rest,  he 
was  a  manly,  active,  industrious  boy,  with  a  clear  head,  a  kind 
heart,  a  well  balanced  judgment,  fond  of  all  outdoor  sports  and 
labors,  and  with  a  well  knit  frame  and  a  constitution  of  great 
vitality  and  endurance. 

Though  always  ready  to  work,  he  had  a  special  dislike  for 
the  tanning  business,  and  whenever  called  upon  to  do  any  work 
in  connection  with  the  tannery,  he  would  find  something  else 
to  do,  and  hire  a  boy  to  work  there  in  his  place.  When  he 
was  a  little  more  than  sixteen  years  of  age,  his  father  called 
upon  him  one  day  to  work  with  him  in  the  beam-room  of  the 
tannery.  He  obeyed,  but  expressed  to  his  father  the  strong 


GENERAL    ULYSSES    »IMP8OX   GKANT.  21 

dislike  lie  felt  for  the  business,  and  his  determination  not  to 
follow  it  after  he  came  of  age.  His  father  replied  that  he  did 
not  wish  him  to  work  at  it  unless  he  was  disposed  to  follow  it 
in  after  life,  and  inquired  what  business  he  would  like  to  enter 
upon.  He  answered  that  he  would  like  either  to  be  a  farmer, 
a  down-the-river  trader,  or  to  get  an  education.  The  first  two 
avocations  his  father  thought  out  of  the  question,  as  he  was 
then  situated,  but  inquired  how  he  would  like  to  go  to  the 
Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  This  suited  the  boy  exactly, 
and  the  father  hearing  that  there  was  a  vacancy  in  his  own 
Congressional  District,  then  represented  by  the  Hon.  (afterward 
General)  Thomas  S.  Hamer,  made  application,  and  Ulysses  was 
appointed  immediately,  and  in  the  summer  of  1839,  was  admit- 
ted as  a  cadet  in  the  Military  Academy.  The  standard  of 
admission  at  West  Point  was  then  very  low,  and  he  was  below 
most  of  his  eighty-seven  classmates  in  scholarship.  Several  of 
them  had  graduated  from  college  before  entering  the  Academy, 
and  all  had  enjoyed  much  better  advantages  than  he,  yet  at 
the  end  of  the  four  years'  course,  only  thirty-nine  graduated, 
and  among  these  Ulysses  S.  Grant  stood  twenty-first — midway 
of  the  class.  He  ranked  high  in  mathematics  and  in  all  cavalry 
exercises,  and  had  made  good  progress  in  engineering  and 
fortification  studies.  His  demerits  were  almost  wholly  of  a 
trivial  character,  violations  of  some  of  the  minor  regulations  of 
etiquette,  in  the  buttoning  of  his  coat,  the  tying  of  his  cravat  or 
shoes,  or  matters  of  that  sort. 

Dr.  Coppee,  now  President  of  Lehigh  University,  Bethlehem, 
Pennsylvania,  who  was  at  West  Point  with  Grant,  says  of  him : 
"  I  remember  him  as  a  plain,  common  sense,  straight-forward 
youth ;  quiet,  rather  of  the  old  head  on  the  young  shoulders 
order;  shunning  notoriety  ;  quite  contented  while  others  were 
grumbling ;  taking  to  his  military  duties  in  a  very  business-like 


22  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

manner ;  not  a  prominent  man  in  the  corps,  but  respected  by  all 
and  very  popular  with  his  friends.  The  soubriquet  of  "  Uncle 
Sam"  was  given  him  there,  wherr  every  good  fellow  has  a  nick- 
name, from  these  very  qualities ;  indeed  he  was  a  very  uncle- 
like  sort  of  youth.  He  was  then  and  always  an  excellent 
horseman,  and  his  picture  rises  before  me  as  I  write,  in  the  old 
torn-coat,  obsolescent  leather  gig-top,  loose  riding  pantaloons 
with  spurs  buckled  over  them,  going  with  his  clanging  saber 
to  the  drill-hall.  He  exhibited  but  little  enthusiasm  in  any 
thing ;  his  best  standing  was  in  the  mathematical  branches  and 
their  application  to  tactics  and  military  engineering." 

On  his  graduation  in  1843,  cadet  Grant  was  assigned  a  posi- 
tion as  brevet  second  lieutenant  of  the  fourth  regiment,  United 
States  Infantry,  and  joined  his  regiment  in  the  autumn  of  that 
year,  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  near  St.  Louis,  Missouri.  He  had 
a  classmate,  Frederick  T.  Dent,  who  was  from  St.  Louis,  and 
who  had  been  assigned  like  himself  to  the  fourth  infantry.  The 
two  were  warm  friends,  and  Lieutenant  Dent  (now  Brigadier- 
General  Dent,  on  General  Grant's  staff)  took  his  classmate  to  his 
own  hotoe,  whenever  they  could  obtain  leave.  Here  he  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  the  estimable  lady,  then  Miss  Maria  Dent, 
whom  five  years  subsequently  he  married.  His  stay  at  Jeffer- 
son Barracks  was  not  long.  In  less  than  a  year  he  was  ordered 
to  Camp  Salubrity,  Natchitoches,  Louisiana,  and  a  year  later  to 
the  Mexican  frontier,  under  the  order  for  military  occupation 
of  Texas.  There,  on  the  30th  of  September,  1845,  he  attained 
his  commission  as  second  lieutenant,  and  by  special  favor,  was 
allowed  to  remain  in  the  fourth  infantry,  though  his  appoint- 
ment was  originally  made  out  to  the  seventh.  "When  the  war 
with  Mexico  at  last  commenced,  the  fourth  infantry  formed  a 
part  of  General  Zachary  Taylor's  army  of  occupation,  and 
Lieutenant  Grant  took  as  active  a  part  as  his  rank  and  position 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  23 

permitted,  in  the  battles  of  Palo  Alto,  May  8,  1846, — Eesaca  de 
la  Palma,  May  9, — Monterey,  September  21-23,  where  his 
gallant  conduct  received  honorable  mention  from  his  comman- 
der, and  in  the  siege  of  Yera  Cruz,  March  9-29,  1847.  On  the 
1st  of  April,  he  was  appointed  quartermaster  of  the  fourth 
infantry,  preparatory  to  the  long  and  difficult  march  upon  the 
city  of  Mexico,  and  he  held  this  position  from  that  time,  to 
July  23,  1848,  after  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war.  But  though 
his  early  experiences  qualified  him  to  fill  this  position  with 
great  ability,  he  did  not,  as  by  the  army  regulations  he  might, 
consider  himself  excused  from  service  in  the  field.  He  was  in 
nearly  every  battle  of  the  campaign ;  at  Cerro  Gordo,  April  17- 
18,  1847,  at  San  Antonio,  August  20,  at  Churubusco,  the  same 
day,  at  Molino  del  Key,  September  8,  where  his  gallant  and 
meritorious  conduct  procured  him  a  brevet  of  first  lieutenant, 
and  the  praise  of  his  commander,  at  the  storming  of  Chapultepec, 
September  13,  where  he  won  a  brevet  of  captain  and  the 
encomiums  of  that  stern  old  soldier  General  Worth,  and  at  the 
assault  and  capture  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  September  13-18, 
1847,  where  he  obtained  the  more  substantial  honor  of  a 
promotion,  two  days  later,  to  the  first  lieutenancy  in  his  regi- 
ment. After  the  war,  he  was  assigned  to  garrison  duty  at 
Sackett's  Harbor,  New  York,  for  a  year,  then  again  made 
quartermaster  of  his  regiment,  which  position  he  held  for  four 
years,  to  September  30,  1853.  He  had  married  in  1848,  soon 
after  his  return  from  Mexico,  and  the  next  four  years  were 
passed  in  quiet  garrison  duty,  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  Detroit, 
Michigan,  again  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  and  at  Fort  Columbus, 
New  York.  But  in  1852,  he  was  assigned  to  duty  at  Benicia, 
California,  and  subsequently  at  Columbia  Barracks,  and  at  Fort 
Vancouver,  Oregon,  and  Fort  Humboldt,  California.  In  August, 
1853,  he  attained  to  a  captaincy,  and  after  another  year's  service 


24:  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

on  the  Pacific  slope,  he  resigned  his  commission,  July  31,  1854 
He  was  prompted  to  this  step  by  several  considerations.  It 
was  a  time  of  peace,  and  the  prospect  of  rapid  promotion  was 
slight,  especially  to  a  man  who  had  not  thus  far  developed 
those  brilliant  qualities,  which  sometimes  enable  a  man  to  mount 
rapidly,  even  in  peace,  the  ladder  of  promotion ;  the  pay  of  a 
captain  in  the  regular  army,  especially  with  the  great  cost  of 
every  thing  on  the  Pacific  coast  at  that  time,  was  not  sufficient 
to  furnish  more  than  a  bare  support  to  a  man  with  a  family ; 
he  was  liable  to  be  assigned  almost  constantly,  as  he  had  been 
for  two  years  already,  to  duty  on  frontier  posts,  where  he  could 
not  take  his  family,  and  where  the  associations  were  unpleasant. 
He  was  now  thirty-two  years  old,  and  if  he  was  to  be  any  thing 
more  than  a  poor,  army  captain,  it  was  time  that  he  should 
make  a  beginning.  Such  are  the  reasons  assigned  by  his  family 
for  this  step,  which  seemed  for  a  time  to  be  an  unfortunate  one. 
Shall  we  add  another,  which  there  is  every  reason  for  believing 
to  be  true,  and  which,  rightly  considered,  does  him  honor  ?  In 
the  monotony  and  tedium  of  barrack  and  garrison  life,  and 
surrounded  by  rough  associates,  he  had  formed  the  habit,  it  is 
said,  of  drinking  freely,  and  that  habit  was  becoming  so  marked, 
that  the  War  Department  had  thought  it  necessary  to  reprove 
him  for  it.  By  abandoning  his  associates  and  the  associations 
in  which  he  had  been  thrown  on  the  Pacific  coast,  there  was  an 
opportunity  for  him  to  enter  upon,  a  new  life,  and  to  abstain 
thenceforward  from  this  ruinous  indulgence.  He  returned  to 
the  east,  and  having  rejoined  his  family,  who  had  remained  at 
his  father's,  during  his  absence  on  the  Pacific,  he  removed  to 
the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis,  where  his  father-in-law  had  given  his 
wife  a  small  farm,  and  his  father  had  stocked  it.  Captain  Grant 
put  in  practice  his  resolution  to  abandon  all  intoxicating  drinks, 
and  labored  zealously  on  his  farm  for  four  years.  President 


GENERAL    ULYSSES   SIMPSON    GRAN  I.  25 

Coppee  speaks  of  having  met  Mm  at  St.  Louis  in  his  farmer's 
rig,  whip  in  hand,  and  having  enjoyed  a  very  pleasant  inter- 
view with  him,  at  which  Joseph  J.  Eeynolds,  Don  Carlos  Buell, 
and  Major  Chapman  of  the  cavalry  were  also  present.  He  adds, 
"  If  Grant  had  ever  used  spirits,  as  is  not  unlikely,  I  distinctly 
remember  that,  upon  the  proposal  being  made  to  drink,  Grant 
said,  1 1  will  go  in  and  look  at  you,  for  I  never  drink  any 
thing ;'  and  the  other  officers  who  saw  him  frequently,  afterward 
told  me  that  he  drank  nothing  but  water." 

But  he  was  not  destined  to  succeed  as  a  farmer.  He  was 
industrious,  steady,  and  economical,  but  it  was  all  in  vain.  In 
1858,  he  relinquished  the  farm  and  moved  into  St.  Louis,  and  at 
first  undertook  the  real-estate  business  with  a  man  named 
Boggs,  but  after  a  few  months'  trial,  finding  that  the  business 
was  not  sufficient  to  support  both  families,  he  relinquished  it  to 
Ms  partner  and  sought  for  something  else. .  He  next  obtained  a 
position  in  the  custom  house,  -but  the  death  of  the  collector  who 
appointed  him,  caused  him  to  lose  that  in  a  few  months.  He 
had  endeavored  while  on  his  farm  to  eke  out  his  scanty  income 
by  occasionally  acting  as  collector,  as  auctioneer,  etc.,  but  with- 
out any  considerable  success. 

Meanwhile,  his  father  had  been  prospering,  and  had,  in  con- 
nection with  two  of  his  younger  sons,  established  a  leather  and 
harness  store  at  Galena,  Illinois.  He  now  offered  Ulysses  a  posi- 
tion and  interest  in  this  store,  which  was  gladly  and  thankfully 
accepted.  For  two  years  he  continued  in  this  business,  wMch 
seemed  better  suited  to  his  tastes  than  the  farm. 

It  is  said,  that  up  to  this  time  he  had  been  a  Democrat  in  his 
political  views.  With  his  father's  strong  "Whig  and  Eepublican 
sentiments,  this  hardly  seems  probable.  It  is  more  credible 
that,  as  he  himself  is  reported  to  have  said,  he  had  not  voted 
for  years,  and  had  taken  very  little  interest  in  national  affairs 


26  MEN    OF   OUE   DAY. 

The  education  and  general  tone  of  feeling  among  the  officers 
of  the  army,  had  made  them,  to  a  great  extent,  sympathizers 
with  the  South,  pro-slavery  in  their  views,  and  opposed 
to  the  Eepublicans,  whom  they  regarded  as,  in  some  sort,  the 
Abolitionists  under  a  new  name.  How  far  Captain  Grant  shared 
these  feelings,  is  uncertain. 

One  thing  we  know,  he  possessed  that  fine  soldierly  instinct 
of  honor  and  loyalty,  which  was  wanting  in  so  many  of  his  for- 
mer comrades.  When  the  Southern  troops  fired  on  the  nation- 
al flag  at  Sumter,  he  only  knew  that  it  was  his  country  which 
was  assailed,  and  thenceforward  there  was  no  question  of  poli- 
tics. "On  that  morning  of  April  15,  1861,"  says  a  lady  friend, 
who  was  in  his  family,  "  he  laid  down  the  paper  containing  the 
account  of  the  bombardment,  walked  round  the  counter,  and 
drew  on  his  coat,  saying :  '  I  am  for  the  war  to  put  down  this 
wicked  rebellion.  The  Government  educated  me  for  the  army, 
and  though  I  served  faithfully  through  one  war,  I  feel  still  a 
little  in  debt  for  my  education,  and  am  ready  to  discharge  the 
obligation.'  "  He  went  out  into  the  streets  of  Galena,  aided 
in  organizing  and  drilling  a  company  of  volunteers,  with  whom 
he  marched  to  Springfield,  the  capital  of  the  State.  He  had  no 
ambition  to  serve  as  commander  of  this  company,  and  hence 
declined  their  nomination  of  him  for  captain.  Hon.  E.  B. 
"Washburne,  then  member  of  Congress  from  the  Galena  District, 
and  his  firm  friend,  then  and  since,  accompanied  him  to  Spring- 
field, and  introduced  him  to  Governor  Yates,  who  at  once  of- 
fered him  the  position  of  adjutant-general,  which  he  accepted, 
and  filled  very  successfully.  When  the  first  quotas  from  Illinois 
had  been  organized,  and  mostly  mustered  into  service,  Adjutant- 
General  Grant  made  a  flying  visit  to  his  father  at  Covington, 
Kentucky,  and  while  there,  Governor  Yates,  finding  that  the 
colonel  of  the  21st  Illinois  volunteer  regiment  was  entirely 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SlilPSOX   GRANT.  27 

unfit  for  his  position,  removed  him,  and  telegraphed  Grant 
that  he  had  appointed  him  to  the  vacancy.  He  was  on  his 
way  to  Springfield  at  that  time,  and  immediately  assumed  com- 
mand. In  a  short  time  they  were  under  most  admirable  disci- 
pline, and  an  alarm  occurring  in  regard  to  a  Eebel  attack  upon 
Quincy,  Illinois,  he  marched  them  thither  on  foot,  a  distance 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  a  feat  at  that  time  considered 
most  extraordinary* 

The  first  service  to  which  the  21st  Illinois  was  assigned,  was 
to  guard  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  railroad.  Several  regi- 
ments having  been  ordered  to  this  service,  it  was  necessary  that 
one  of  the  regimental  commanders  should  become  acting  brig- 
adier-general, and  control  the  whole,  as  no  brigadier-general 
had  been  assigned  to  the  command.  For  this  office  Grant,  who, 
though  the  youngest  colonel  on  the  ground,  was  the  only  gra- 
duate of  West  Point,  was  selected,  and  took  command  at  Mexico, 
Missouri,  July  31,  1861.  On  the  9th  of  August,  Colonel  Grant 
was  commissioned  brigadier-general  (his  commission  dating 
from  the  17th  of  May),  and  sent  with  an  adequate  force  to 
southern  Missouri,  where  the  rebel  General  Jeff.  Thompson  was 
threatening  an  advance.  He  visited  Ironton,  superintended  the 
erection  of  fortifications  there  and  at  Marble  creek,  and,  leaving 
a  garrison  in  each  place  to  defend  it,  hastened  to  Jefferson  City, 
which  was  also  threatened,  and  protected  it  from  rebel  attacks 
for  ten  days,  when  Thompson,  having  abandoned  his  purpose, 
General  Grant  left  the  Missouri  capital  to  enter  upon  the  com- 
mand of  the  important  district  of  Cairo. 

It  was  while  he  was  in  southern  Missouri,  his  biographers 
say,  that  he  issued  his  famous  special  order  concerning  Mrs. 
Selvidge's  pie.  The  incident,  which  illustrates  somewhat  forci- 
bly the  quiet  humor  which  is  a  marked  characteristic  of  the 
general,  was  something  like  this : 


28  MEN   OF   OUE  DAY. 

In  tlie  rapid  marches  of  his  force  in  Southern  Missouri  their 
rations  were  often  scanty,  and  not  very  palatable,  but  the  region 
was  poor  and  sparsely  settled,  and,  for  the  most  part,  there  was 
no  chance  of  procuring  food  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  country 
through  which  they  were  passing.  At  length,  however,  they 
emerged  into  a  better  and  more  cultivated  section,  and  Lieute- 
nant "Wickham,  of  an  Indiana  cavalry  regiment,  who  was  in 
command  of  the  advanced  guard  of  eighty  men,  halted  at  a 
farm-house  of  somewhat  more  comfortable  appearance  than  any 
which  they  had  passed,  and  entered  the  building  with  two 
second  lieutenants.  Pretending  to  be  Brigadier-General  Grant, 
he  demanded  food  for  himself  and  his  staff.  The  family,  whose 
loyalty  was  somewhat  doubtful,  alarmed  at  the  idea  of  the  Union 
general  being  on  their  premises,  hastily  brought  forward  the 
best  their  house  afforded,  at  the  same  time  loudly  protesting 
their  attachment  to  the  Union  cause.  The  lieutenants  ate  their 
.  ill,  and,  offering  to  compensate  their  hosts,  were  told  that  there 
was  nothing  to  pay ;  whereupon  they  went  on  their  way,  chuck- 
ling at  their  adroitness  in  getting  so  good  a  dinner  for  nothing. 
Soon  after,  General  Grant,  who  had  halted  his  army  for  a  short 
rest  a  few  miles  further  back,  came  up,  and  being  rather  favor- 
ably impressed  with  the  appearance  of  the  farm-house,  rode  up 
to  the  door  and  asked  them  if  they  would  cook  him  a  meal. 
The  woman,  who  grudged  the  food  already  furnished  to  the 
self-styled  general  and  his  staff,  replied  gruffly,  "  No !  General 
Grant  and  his  staff  have  just  been  here,  and  eaten  every  thing 
in  the  house,  except  one  pumpkin-pie." 

"Ah!"  said  Grant;  "what  is  your  name?" 

"  Selvidge,"  answered  the  woman. 

Tossing  her  a  half-dollar,  the  general  asked,  "  Will  you  keep 
that  pie  until  I  send  an  officer  for  it  ?" 

"  I  will,"  said  the  woman. 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  29 

The  general  and  staff  rode  on,  and  soon  a  camping  ground 
was  selected,  and  the  regiments  were  notified  that  there  would 
be  a  grand  parade  at  half-past  six  for  orders.  This  was  unusual, 
and  neither  officers  nor  men  could  imagine  what  was  coming. 
The  parade  was  formed,  however,  ten  columns  deep,  and  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  in  length.  After  the  usual  review,  the  assistant 
adjutant-general  read  the  following : 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  ARMY  is  THE  FIELD. 
"Special   Order,  No.  . 

"Lieutenant  Wickham,  of  the  Indiana  Cavalry,  having  on 
this  day  eaten  every  thing  in  Mrs.  Selvidge's  house,  at  the  cross- 
ing of  the  Ironton  and  Pocahontas  and  Black  river  and  Cape 
Girardeau  roads,  except  one  pumpkin  pie,  Lieutenant  "Wickham 
is  hereby  ordered  to  return  with  an  escort  -of  one  hundred 
cavalry,  and  eat  that  pie  also. 

"U.  S.  GKANT, 

"Brigadier-general  commanding." 

The  attempt  to  evade  this  order  was  useless,  and  at  seven 
o'clock  the  lieutenant  filed  out  of  camp  with  his  hundred  men, 
amid  the  cheers  of  the  whole  army.  The  escort  witnessed  the 
eating  of  the  pie,  the  whole  of  which  the  lieutenant  succeeded 
in  devouring,  and  returned  to  camp. 

The  post  of  Cairo,  the  headquarters  of  the  district  to  the 
command  of  which  General  Grant  was  now  ordered,  was  one, 
from  its  position,  of  great  importance  to  the  Union  cause.  It 
commanded  both  the  Ohio  and  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  was 
the  depot  of  supplies  for  an  extensive  region  above,  and  subse- 
quently below.  Grant's  command  extended  along  the  shores 
o.f  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  Cape  Girardeau,  and  on  the  Ohio  to 
the  mouth  of  Green  river,  and  included  western  Kentucky. 
That  State,  at  this  time,  was  trying  to  maintain  a  neutral  posi- 
tion, favoring  neither  the  Union  nor  the  rebels,  a  position 
which  was  as  absurd  as  it  was  soon  found  to  be  impossible. 


30  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

The  rebels  were  the  first  to  cross  the  lines,  and  take  possession 
of  the  important  towns  of  Columbus  and  Hickman,  on  -the 
Mississippi,  and  Bowling  Green,  on  the  Green  river,  all  of 
'which  they  fortified.  General  Grant  was  apprized  of  these  vio- 
lations of  Kentucky's  professed  neutrality,  and  as  they  afforded 
him  ample  justification  for  occupying  positions  within  the 
State,  he  quietly  sent  a  body  of  troops,  on  the  6th  of  September, 
up  the  Ohio  to  Paducah,  a  town  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee, 
and  took  possession  of  it  at  the  time  when  the  secessionists 
there  were  looking  for  the  entry  of  the  rebel  troops,  who  were 
marching  to  occupy  it.  The  rage  of  these  enemies  of  the  coun- 
try can  be  better  imagined  than  described.  Rebel  flags  were 
flaunted  in  the  faces  of  our  troops,  and  they  were  told  that  they 
should  not  long  retain  possession  of  the  town. 

This  did  not,  however,  in  the  least  disturb  the  equanimity  of 
General  Grant.  He  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  inhabitants  in- 
forming them  of  his  reasons  for  taking  possession  of  the  town, 
and  that  he  was  prepared  to  defend  the  citizens  against  the  en- 
emy ;  and  added,  significantly,  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with 
opinions,  but  should  deal  only  with  armed  rebellion,  and  its 
aiders  and  abettors.  * 

On  the  25th  of  September  he  dispatched  a  force  to  Smithland 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland  river,  and  took  possession  of 
that  town  also.  The  principal  avenues  through  which  the  re- 
bels had  obtained  supplies  of  food,  clothing,  arms,  and  ammuni- 
tion, from  the  North,  were  thus  effectually  closed. 

When  General  Grant  was  assigned  to  the  command  at  Cairo, 
General  McClernand's  brigade  and  some  other  troops  were 
added  to  his  own  brigade.  Having  taken  possession  of  Paducah 
and  Smithland,  he  now  began  to  turn  his  attention  to  Colum- 
bus, Kentucky,  an  important  position,  held  by  the  rebel  Major- 
General  Polk  (a  former  bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  81 

Church),  with  a  force  of  twenty  thousand  men.  He  had  nearly 
completed  his  arrangements  for  attacking  this  post,  when  the 
Government  ordered  him  to  send  five  of  his  regiments  to  St. 
Louis.  This  left  him  too  weak  to  make  the  attack  with  any  hope 
of  success. 

On  the  16th  of  October,  General  Grant,  having  learned  that 
the  rebel  General  Jeff.  Thompson  was  approaching  Pilot  Knob? 
Missouri,  and  evidently  purposing  an  extensive  raid  through 
southeastern  Missouri,  ordered  fifteen  hundred  men,  under 
Colonel  Plummer,  then  stationed  at  Cape  Girardeau,  to  move 
towards  Fredericktown,  Missouri,  by  way  of  Jackson  and  Dal- 
las, forming  a  junction  at  the  latter  place  with  Colonel  Carlin, 
who  had  been  ordered  to  move  with  three  thousand  men  from 
another  point,  and,  pursuing  Thompson,  to  defeat  and  rout  his 
force.  The  expeditions  were  successful.  Thompson  was  found 
on  the  21st  of  October,  not  far  from  Dallas,  on  the  Greenville 
road,  and,  after  an  action  of  two  and  a  half  hours,  defeated  and 
routed  with  very  heavy  loss.  Colonel  Plummer  captured  in 
this  engagement  forty -two  prisoners  and  one  twelve-pounder. 

By  this  expedition,  General  Grant  ascertained  the  position 
and  strength  of  Jeff.  Thompson's  forces,  and  learned  also  that 
the  rebels  were  concentrating,  a  considerable  force  at  Belmont, 
Missouri,  nearly  opposite  Columbus,  Kentucky,  with  a  view  to 
blockade  the  Mississippi  river,  and  to  move  speedily  upon  his 
position  at  Cairo.  Having  received  orders  to  that  effect  from 
his  superior  officers,  General  Grant  resolved  to  break  up  this 
camp,  although  aware  that  the  rebels  could  be  reinforced  to  al- 
most any  extent  from  Columbus,  Kentucky. 

On  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  November,  General  Grant  em- 
barked two  brigades,  in  all  about  two  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  under  his  own  and  General  McClernand's  com- 
mand, on  board  river  steamers,  and  moved  down  the  Missis- 


32  MEN   OF   OUR   DAT. 

sippi.  He  had  previously  detached  small  bodies  of  troops  to 
threaten  Columbus  from  different  directions,  and  to  deceive' the 
rebels  as  to  his  intentions.  The  ruse  was  successful,  and  the 
force  which  he  commanded  in  person  reached  the  vicinity  of 
Belmont,  and  landed  before  the  enemy  had  comprehended  their 
intention.  The  Union  troops,  disembarking  with  great  prompt- 
ness, marched  rapidly  towards  the  rebel  camp,  a  distance  of 
about  two  and  a  half  miles,  and,  forcing  their  way  through  a 
dense  abatis  and  other  obstructions,  charged  through  the  camp, 
capturing  their  camp  equipage,  artillery,  and  small-arms,  and 
burned  the  tents,  blankets,  etc.  They  also  took  a  large  number 
of  prisoners.  The  rebel  force  at  the  camp  was  not  far  from 
4000,  but  General  Polk,  learning  of  the  attack,  sent  over  as  re- 
inforcements1 eight  regiments,  or  somewhat  more  than  4000 
more  troops,  under  the  command  of  Generals  Pillow  and  Cheat- 
ham,  and  finally  crossed  the  river  himself  and  took  command. 
General  Grant  having  accomplished  all,  and  more  than  he  ex- 
pected, and  being  aware  that  Belmont  was  covered  by  the  bat- 
teries at  Columbus,  and  that  heavy  reinforcements  could  be  read- 
ily sent  from  thence,  made  no  attempt  to  hold  the  position,  but 
withdrew  in  good  order.  On  their  way  to  their  transports,  the 
Union  troops  were  confronted  by  the  fresh  rebel  force  under 
Folk's  command,  and  a  severe  battle  ensued,  during  which  a 
considerable  number  of  the  rebel  prisoners  made  their  escape ; 
and  there  were  heavy  losses  in  killed  and  wounded  on  both 
sides,  the  Union  loss  amounting  to  nearly  one  hundred  killed, 
and  four  hundred  or  five  hundred  wounded  and  missing,  the 
larger  part  of  whom  were  prisoners.  "What  was  the  exact  rebel 
loss  has  never  transpired,  but  it  is  known  to  have  been  larger 
than  this,  the  number  of  prisoners  alone  exceeding  the  total 
Union  loss.  The  Union  troops  at  length  succeeded  in  reaching 
their  transports  and  re-embarking,  under  the  protection  of  the 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON    GRANT.  33 

gunboats  Tyler  and  Lexington,  which  had  convoyed  them, 
bringing  with  them  two  cannon  which  they  had  captured,  and 
spiking  two  others,  which  they  were  obliged  to  abandon. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  General  Halleck,  who  was  then  in 
command  of  the  western  department,  reorganized  the  districts 
of  his  command,  and  enlarged  the  district  of  Cairo,  including  in 
it  all  the  southern  portion  of  Illinois,  all  of  Kentucky  west  of. 
the  Cumberland  river,  and  the  southern  counties  of  Missouri, 
and  appointed  Brigadier-General  Grant  commander  of  the  new 
district.  The  large  numbers  of  troops  newly  mustered  in,  which 
were  pouring  into  the  district,  kept  the  commander  and  his  sub- 
ordinate officers  very  busy  for  five  or  six  weeks  in  organizing, 
training,  and  distributing  them  to  the  points  where  their  ser- 
vices were  required.  Desirous  of  testing  the  capacity  and  en- 
durance of  his  raw  troops,  for  the  severe  work  which  was  be- 
fore them,  Brigadier-General  Grant  made,  on  the  14th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1862,  a  reconnoissance  in  force  into  southeastern  Missouri, 
which  proved  successful  in  all  respects.  He  next,  while  keep- 
ing up  a  feint  of  attacking  Columbus,  Kentucky,  prepared  to 
co-operate  with  the  gunboat  flotilla,  under  the  command  of  Flag 
Officer  A.  H.  Foote,  in  an  attack  upon  the  two  rebel  forts  on  the 
Tennessee  and  Cumberland  rivers,  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson. 
This  attack  was  first  suggested  by  that  able  officer,  General 
Charles  F.  Smith,  who  died  shortly  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh, 
but  it  was  pressed  upon  General  Halleck,  then  in  command  of 
the  Department  of  the  Mississippi,  by  General  Grant,  with  such 
pertinacity  and  earnestness,  that  it  was  finally  ordered  by  that 
officer.  The  attack  on  Fort  Henry,  a  small  but  strong  work  on 
the  Tennessee  river,  was  first  in  the  order  of  time,  and  General 
Grant's  part  in  it  was  delayed  by  the  condition  of  the  roads  so 
much  that  General  Tilghman,  who  was  in  command  had  time 

to  send  off  most  of  his  troops  to  Fort  Donelson,  and  surrendered 
3 


34  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

the  remainder  to  Flag-officer  Foote  after  a  brief  action,  before 
General  Grant  reached  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  fort. 

Grant  proceeded  immediately  to  attack  the  much  more  con- 
siderable fortress  of  Donelson,  on  the  Cumberland,  which  here 
approaches  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Tennessee.  This  fortress  had 
a  garrison  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  thousand  rebel  troops,  and  was 
.  not  a  remarkably  strong  work,  though  from  its  position  it  was 
somewhat  difficult  to  carry  by  assault.  Grant  had  about  16,000 
troops  with  him,  most  of  whom  had  not  been  in  any  action,  and 
the  number  was  insufficient  to  invest  so  large  a  fort  properly. 
He  was  reluctant,  however,  to  await  the  coming  of  the  gun- 
boats, which  had  carried  off  the  glory  at  Fort  Henry,  and  hence 
commenced  operations  at  once,  and  carried  some  of  the  out- 
works. The  gunboats  came  up  on  the  morning  of  the  14th 
(the  Carondelet  having  arrived  the  previous  day,  and  made  a 
short  assault,  but  without  particular  result),  and  went  into 
action,  while  an  attack  was  made  by  the  troops  on  the  land- 
side.  Unfortunately,  the  best  gunboats  were  soon  disabled, 
and  Flag-officer  Foote  himself  wounded,  and  they  were  com- 
pelled to  withdraw ;  and  the  land  attack  was  not  simultaneous, 
or  forcibly  delivered.  The  assault  upon,  or  siege  of  a  fort,  was 
new  business  to  the  national  troops,  and  their  commander  had 
had  but  little  experience  in  it ;  but  he  resolved  to  besiege  the 
enemy.  The  next  morning,  however,  before  the  arrangements 
for  the  siege  were  fully  completed,  the  rebels  made  a  sortie, 
broke  the  Union  line,  and  captured  two  batteries  of  artillery. 
The  Union  troops  rallied,  and  retook  most  of  their  guns ;  but 
the  conflict  was  of  uncertain  issue,  and  could  have  been  easily 
turned  in  favor  of  either  side,  when  General  Grant,  who  had 
been  coolly  looking  on,  ordered  General  Charles  F.  Smith's 
division  to  charge  the  enemy.  The  order  was  obeyed  with 
great  spirit  by  the  veteran  officer,  and  General  Grant  followed 


GENERAL    ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GKANT.  35 

it  by  ordering  up  Lew.  Wallace's  division,  which  had  broken 
in  the  morning,  but  which  now  charged  bravely  at  the  other 
end  of  the  line.  These  divisions  gained  a  position  within  the 
outer  lines  of  the  fort ;  and  Generals  Pillow  and  Floyd,  who 
were  the  senior  rebel  generals  in  command,  were  convinced 
that  the  fort  would  be  captured,  and  insisted  on  making  their 
escape.  General  Buckner  protested,  but  in  vain.  They  fled 
before  daylight,  taking  a  few  troops  with  them  ;  and  Buckner, 
who  had  been  at  "West  Point  with  Grant,  sent  a  flag  of  truce, 
on  the  morning  of  February  16th,  to  the  Union  headquarters, 
asking  for  an  armistice,  and  the  appointment  of  commissioners 
to  agree  upon  terms  of  capitulation.  Grant's  answer  has  become 
historic,  as  it  deserved.  It  was : — "  No  terms,  other  than  uncon- 
ditional and  immediate  surrender  can  be  accepted.  I  propose  to 
move  immediately  upon  your  works."  This  brought  the  haughty 
Buckner  to  terms,  and  though  protesting  against  "  the  ungenerous 
and  unchivalrous  terms,"  he  surrendered  at  once ;  and  14,623 
prisoners,  and  a  large  amount  of  materials  of  war,  were  de- 
livered over  to  the  Union  general.  This  success  was  due 
mainly  to  three  causes — the  superior  fighting  qualities  of 
Grant's  force,  though  raw  troops ;  the  calmness  and  coolness 
of  the  general  himself,  which  enabled  him  to  discern  the 
favorable  moment  for  a  bold  and  decisive  stroke  when  the  con- 
flict was  evenly  poised ;  and  the  cowardice  and  weakness  of 
the  rebel  generals.  As  a  siege,  or  a  systematic  action  for  the 
reduction  of  a  fort,  it  would  not  bear  criticism  ;  and  we  doubt 
not  the  general  himself  is  as  fully  aware  of  this,  and  would 
now  criticise  it  as  severely  as  any  one  else. 

After  the  capture  of  Donelson,  and  the  occupation  of  Clarks- 
ville  and  Nashville  by  Buell's  forces,  General  Grant  came  near 
falling  into  disfavor  with  General  Halleck  for  trespassing  upon 
General  Buell's  command.  He  was  however  speedily  forgiven. 


36  MEN   OF   OUR   DAT. 

and  sent  forward  to  the  vicinity  of  Corinth,  Mississippi,  to 
select  a  camp  for  his  army,  and  bring  it  up  to  a  suitable 
point  for  giving  battle  to  the  rebels.  There  can  be  no  question 
that  Corinth  should  have  been  the  place  selected,  and  that,  for 
two  or  three  weeks,  it  might  have  been  seized  and  held  without 
difficulty.  Failing  in  this,  through  manifold  delays,  the  camp 
should  have  been  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Tennessee.  Instead 
of  this,  by  some  blunder  it  was  located  near  the  south  bank  of 
the  river,  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  or  Shiloh  Church,  and  the 
troops  as  they  came  up  were  allowed  to  choose  their  locations 
very  much  as  they  pleased ;  and  though  they  were  less  than 
twenty  miles  from  the  enemy's  camp,  no  patrols  or  pickets  were 
maintained  in  the  direction  of  the  enemy,  nor  any  breastworks 
erected;  and  all  was  ease  and  unconcern.  General  Grant's 
headquarters  were  at  Savannah,  six  miles  below,  and  the  troops 
as  they  arrived  were  sent  forward.  Meantime,  the  rebels  were 
at  Corinth,  under  the  command  of  the  ablest  general  of  their 
army,  General  Albert  Sydney  Johnston,  and,  having  acccumu- 
lated  a  large  force,  were  ready  to  take  the  offensive.  Grant  had 
been  promoted  to  be  major-general  of  volunteers,  dating  from 
February  16th,  1862,  the  day  of  the  surrender  of  Fort  Donel- 
son,  and  had  been  in  command  of  the  district  of  West  Ten- 
nessee from  March  5th ;  but  he  seems  not  to  have  had  any  pre- 
vision of  the  magnitude  of  the  coming  battles,  if  indeed  his 
easy  victory  at  Fort  Donelson,  had  not  inspired  him  with  a 
doubt  whether  there  would  be  a  battle  at  all.  He  evidently 
did  not  consider  it  imminent,  for  he  had  sent  word  to  Buell 
that  he  need  not  hasten.  It  was  to  this  picturesque,  but  de- 
cidedly unmilitary  collection  of  camps,  that  the  rebel  general, 
A.  S.  Johnston,  one  of  the  ablest  soldiers  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, was  approaching,  with  a  force  of  over  40,000  men,  on 
the  2d  of  April,  1862,  and  anticipating,  as  he  had  a  right  to 


GENERAL    ULYSSES   SIMPSON  GRANT.  37 

do,  an  easy  victory.  The  heavy  rain  and  deep  mud  delayed 
him  for  three  days  within  six  or  eight  miles  of  the  Union 
camp,  but  no  one  discovered  his  approach.  On  the  morning  of 
the  6th  of  April  he  attacked  Prentiss's  division ;  and  though 
they  made  a  gallant  resistance,  for  men  utterly  surprised,  they 
were  soon  broken,  and  many  of  them  taken  prisoners.  Sher- 
man's division  held  their  ground  firmly  for  a  time,  and  finally, 
by  falling  back  a  short  distance,  obtained  a  better  position, 
from  which  they  were  only  partially  pushed  back  during  the 
day.  Hurlburt's  and  W.  H.  L.  Wallace's  divisions  were  par- 
tially broken,  but  fought  sturdily,  yet  despairingly,  through 
the  day.  The  fugitives  and  deserters  were  numerous,  and  the 
whole  force  was  driven  back  for  nearly  two  and  a  half  miles, 
till  they  only  occupied  about  half  a  mile  on  the  river  bank. 
The  outlook  seemed  a  gloomy  one,  but  the  occasion  was  one 
which  developed  all  the  great  qualities  of  Grant.  On  the  field 
from  ten  o'clock,  A.  M.,  directing,  with  the  utmost  coolness  and 
imperturbability,  the  movements  of  the  troops — ordering  the 
gathering  of  the  scattered  artillery,  and  massing  it  where  it 
could  be  used  most  effectually  upon  the  enemy — availing  him- 
self of  the  gunboats  as  soon  as  possible,  to  protect  by  their  fire 
the  position  of  his  troops — noticing  every  thing  that  was  trans- 
piring, and  yet  to  all  human  appearance  the  calmest  and  most 
self-possessed  man  on  the  field — his  conduct  during  the  battle 
merits  only  the  highest  praise.  Toward  the  close  of  the  day, 
an  officer  said  to  him,  "  Does  not  the  prospect  begin  to  look 
gloomy  ?"  "  Not  at  all,"  was  his  quiet  reply ;  "  they  can't 
force  our  lines  around  these  batteries  to-night — it  is  too  late. 
Belay  counts  every  thing  with  us.  To-morrow  we  shall  attack 
them  with  fresh  troops,  and  drive  them,  of  course !"  He  was 
right.  The  enemy,  exhausted,  and  suffering  from  the  heavy 
fire  of  the  batteries  and  gunboats,  could  not  dislodge  them  that 


38  MEN   OF   OUR  DAY. 

night;  and  during  the  night  Lew.  Wallace's  division  crossed 
the  river,  and  Buell  came  up  ready  to  cross.  The  contest 
of  the  next  day,  April  7th,  though  a  sharp  one,  was  in  favor 
of  the  Union  troops  from  the  beginning,  and  by  a  little  after 
noon  the  rebels,  who  had  lost  their  commanding  general  the 
day  before,  were  in  full  retreat. 

The  losses  were  about  equal,  and  amounted  in  both  armies, 
in  killed,  wounded,  missing,  and  prisoners,  to  nearly  30,000. 
Grant's  army  held  their  position,  and  the  rebels  fell  back  ;  the 
former  were  therefore  entitled  to  claim  it  as  a  victory,  but  it  was 
a  costly  one.  General  Halleck  now  took  the  field  in  person,  and 
under  the  pretence  of  making  Grant  his  second  in  command, 
virtually  took  all  command  from  him.  This  led  to  a  coolness 
between  the  two,  and  Grant  was  for  a  time  greatly  depressed  in 
spirits.  He  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Corinth,  but  was  constantly 
hampered  by  the  dilatoriness  of  his  chief.  After  General  Hal- 
leck was  called  to  Washington  as  general-in-chief,  Grant  was 
in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  but  was  unable  to 
do  much  until  September,  Bragg  and  Buell  being  engaged  in 
the  race  into  Kentucky  and  back.  He  planned,  however,  the 
movements  which  resulted  in  the  battle  of  luka,  September  19, 
where  he  commanded  in  person  ;  and  in  the  battles  of  Corinth, 
October  3d  and  4th,  which  were  fought  by  General  Eosecrans ; 
and  in  the  battle  of  the  Hatchie,  October  oth,  which  was  under 
his  immediate  direction.  In  the  autumn  he  made  his  head- 
quarters in  Memphis,  where  he  soon,  by  his  stringent  and  de- 
cided orders,  changed  that  state  of  affairs,  which  had  led  the 
rebels  to  say,  that  Memphis  was  more  valuable  to  them  in 
Union  hands  than  in  those  of  their  own  people. 

The  popular  clamor  throughout  the  country,  and  particularly 
in  the  West,  was  for  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi.  Vicksburg 
on  the  north,  and  Port  Hudson  on  the  south,  blockaded  all 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  39 

transit  up  or  down  this  great  river,  so  long  the  free  channel  of 
western  produce  and  traffic.  The  efforts  which  had  been  made 
to  break  through  these  obstructions  since  the  war  commenced, 
had  all  failed,  from  the  inherent  strength  of  the  fortifications, 
the  difficulty  of  assailing  them  effectually  in  front,  and  the 
strength  of  their  garrisons.  General  Grant  had  turned  his  at- 
tention to  the  solution  of  this  great  problem,  almost  as  soon  as 
the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Tennessee  was  assigned 
to  him,  in  October,  1862.  He  was  aware  of  the  formidable  char- 
acter of  the  fortifications  of  Yicksburg,  and  that  they  had  been, 
during  1862,  strengthened  by  every  method  and  device  known 
to  engineering  skill.  For  ten  miles  and  more,  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Mississippi,  above  and  below  the  city,  as  well  as  all 

the  adjacent  heights,  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  Walnut  Bluffs,  Haines' 

/ 

Bluff,  and  the  shores  of  the  Yazoo,  were  covered  with  fortifica- 
tions, and  the  rear  of  the  city  also.  At  many  points,  these 
stood  tier  above  tier,  and  were  capable  of  pouring  a  concen- 
trated fire  upon  any  object  in  the  river,  which  it  seemed  as  if 
nothing  built  by  human  hands  could  resist.  His  first  plan 
was  to  distribute  his  stores  and  supplies  along  the  Mississippi 
Central  railroad,  and  then  moving  rapidly  down  that  road,  as- 
sault and  carry  Jackson,  the  capital  of  Mississippi,  and  march 
thence  swiftly  upon  the  rear  of  Yicksburg,  sending  General 
"W.  T.  Sherman  from  Memphis,  with  a  considerable  force  to 
demonstrate  simultaneously  on  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  at  the  north- 
west of  the  city. 

This  plan,  which  seemed  the  most  feasible  one,  was  defeated 
by  the  cowardice  and  treachery  of  Colonel  Murphy,  who,  with 
a  force  of  1,000  men,  was  in  command  at  Holly  Springs,  Miss- 
issippi, Grant's  main  depot  of  supplies,  and  surrendered  with- 
out attempting  any  defence,  on  the  20th  of  December,  1862, 
to  a  rebel  force  slightly  larger  than  his  own.  The  rebels  hastily 


4:0  MEJST   OP   OUE   DAY. 

destroyed  the  supplies,  valued  at  §4,000,000,  and  evacuated  the 
place.  But  Grant  could  not  go  on  with  his  expedition,  and 
unfortunately  he  was  unable  to  apprise  General  Sherman,  and 
prevent  his  departure ;  and  after  a  succession  of  disastrous  as- 
saults upon  the  bluffs,  finding  that  General  Grant  had  failed  to 
come  to  time,  that  general  was  obliged  to  withdraw  with  heavy 
losses.  But  Grant  was  not  the  man  to  give  up  an  enterprise 
on  which  he  had  set  his  heart,  in  consequence  of  a  single  re- 
pulse. Eenewing  his  stock  of  supplies,  he  next  turned  his 
attention  to  some  plan,  as  yet  he  hardly  knew  what,  for  carry- 
ing the  fortress,  from  the  front.  He  moved  his  army  to  Young's 
Point,  Louisiana,  a  short  distance  above  Yicksburg.  He  soon 
found  that  there  was  no  hope  of  reaching  the  rear  of  the  city 
by  a  movement  from  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi  above  it. 
A  line  of  hills  admirably  adapted,  and  as  admirably  improved 
for  defence,  stretched  from  Vicksburg  to  Haines'  Bluff,  on  the 
Yazoo,  twelve  miles  above  the  entrance  of  that  stream  into  the 
Mississippi.  The  land  in  front  of  these  hills  is  a  deep  marsh, 
neither  land  nor  water.  There  remained  then  but  two  courses, 
either  to  enter  the  Yazoo  above  Haines'  Bluff,  and  coming 
down  to  the  east  of  that  fortified  point,  attack  the  city  in  rear, 
or  finding  some  mode  of  passing  or  evading  the  batteries  on 
the  Mississippi,  land  some  distance  below,  and  approach  it  from 
the  south.  There  was  also  a  faint  hope  that  by  completing  a 
canal,  begun  the  previous  summer,  across  the  neck  of  land 
formed  by  the  bend  of  the  Mississippi,  and  thus  creating  a  new 
channel  for  that  river,  the  Union  vessels  might  be  able  to  pass 
below  the  city,  but  the  fact  that  the  lower  end  of  the  canal  was 
exposed  to  the  fire  of  some  of  the  heaviest  batteries,  made  this 
project  less  feasible,  and  the  flood  destroyed  their  works,  and 
partially  filled  the  canal  with  silt  and  mud. 

The  attempts  to  gain  the  rear  of  the  city  by  way  of  the  Yazoo 


GENERAL    ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT,  41 

were  equally  unsuccessful,  both  through  the  Old  Yazoo  Pass, 
and  subsequently  by  a  more  circuitous  route  through  Steele's 
Bayou,  Black  Bayou,  Dutch  creek,  Deer  creek,  Eolling  Fork 
and  Sunflower  river ;  the  rebels  having  planted  earthworks  and 
batteries  at  such  points  as  to  prevent  progress  by  either. 

Turning  his  attention  then  to  the  methods  of  reaching  the 
Mississippi  below  Yicksburg,  two  routes  were  attempted  on  the 
west  side  of  the  river  and  both  failed  ;  one  was  by  Lake  Provi- 
dence and  the  Tensas  river,  a  tortuous  route  and  only  practica- 
ble for  vessels  of  light  draft ;  the  other  by  way  of  certain  Loui- 
siana bayous,  through  which  in  flood  time  it  was  possible  to 
reach  the  Tensas,  Eed,  and  Mississippi  rivers.  Before  the  vessels 
could  reach  their  destination,  the  water  fell,  and  even  the  steam- 
ers of  lightest  draught  could  not  get  through.  A  small  quan- 
tity of  supplies  was  forwarded  by  the  Lake  Providence  route, 
but  nothing  more.  General  Grant  now  determined  to  march 
his  troops  by  land  down  the  west  side  of  the  river  as  soon  as  the 
roads  should  be  sufficiently  dry.  But  it  was  necessary  that  a 
part  of  the  gunboats  and  iron  clads  should  be  below  Vicksburg, 
both  in  order  to  ferry  the  troops  across  the  river  and  to  engage 
the  batteries  at  Grand  Gulf,  and  a  considerable  amount  of  sup- 
plies must  also  be  sent  down  by  transports.  These  must  all 
run  past  the  terrible  batteries  of  Vicksburg. 

Admiral  Porter  undertook  this  heroic  and  daring  expedition, 
and  conducted  it  successfully,  running  past  the  batteries  with 
five  or  six  gunboats  and  sixteen  or  eighteen  transports,  in  two 
divisions,  on  different  nights.  Two  of  the  transports  were 
burned,  but  none  of  the  gunboats  were  seriously  injured. 

The  overland  march  of  the  troops  occupied  thirty  days,  in 
traversing  a  distance  of  seventy  miles,  to  Hard  Times,  a  hamlet 
of  Louisiana  nearly  opposite  Grand  Gulf.  The  squadron  were 
ready  and  attacked  Grand  Gulf,  but  could  not  silence  its  bat- 


42  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

teries.  That  night  both  the  squadron  and  transports  ran  past 
the  batteries,  and  the  troops  marched  ten  miles  farther,  and  were 
ferried  over  to  Bruinsburg  and  marched  rapidly  from  this  point 
north-eastward  toward  Port  Gibson.  The  thirteenth  and  seven- 
teenth corps  encountered  a  considerable  force  of  the  enemy, 
whom,  they  defeated  after  a  sharp  battle,  and  moved  on  to  and 
across  Bayou  Pierre.  The  next  day  it  was  ascertained  that 
Grand  Gulf,  which  had  been  flanked  by  this  movement,  had 
been  evacuated,  and  General  Grant  repaired  thither  with  a  small 
escort,  and  made  arrangements  to  make  it' his  base  of  supplies 
for  a  time.  These  arrangements  occupied  nearly  a  week.  By 
his  orders,  as  nearly  as  possible  simultaneously  with  the  landing 
of  the  two  corps  at  Bruinsburg,  General  Sherman  had  made  a 
strong  demonstration  upon  Haines'  Bluff  and  the  Yazoo,  and 
had  thus  attracted  the  attention  of  the  rebels  toward  that  quar- 
ter, where  they  believed  the  entire  Union  army  were  concen- 
trated, and  prevented  them  from  opposing  their  landing  below. 

This  being  accomplished,  Sherman's  troops  made  all  speed  in 
marching  to  the  rendezvous  on  the  river,  where  the  transports 
were  in  waiting  to  take  them  over  to  Grand  Gulf. 

Before  leaving  Young's  Point,  General  Grant  had  also 
ordered  an  expedition  by  a  competent  cavalry  force,  under  the 
command  of  Colonel,  now  General  Benjamin  H.  Grierson,  to 
start  from  Lagrange,  at  the  junction  of  the  Mississippi  Central 
and  Memphis  and  Charleston  railroads,  to  follow  the  lines  of  the 
Mobile  and  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Central  railroads,  and  destroy 
as  much  of  these,  and  the  Meridian  and  Jackson  railroad,  as 
possible, — capturing  and  destroying  also  all  stores,  ammunition, 
locomotives,  and  railroad  cars  possible,  in  their  route.  This 
expedition  was  thoroughly  successful,  and  reached  Baton  Eouge 
on  the  1st  of  May,  at  the  time  Grant  was  fighting  the  battle  of 
Port  Gibson.  Other  raids  were  ordered  about  the  same  time 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  43 

from  Middle  Tennessee,  which  aided  in  breaking  up  the  railroad 
communications  and  frustrating  the  plans  of  the  rebels. 

Our  space  does  not  allow  us  to  go  into  details  of  the  subse- 
quent masterly  movements  by  which,  while  apparently  threat- 
ening an  immediate  attack  on  Yicksburg  from  the  south,  the 
garrison  there,  under  the  command  of  General  Pemberton,  were 
prevented  from  forming  a  junction  with  General  J.  E.  Johnston's 
troops,  then  in  the  vicinity  of  Jackson,  nor  of  the  battle  of 
Eaymond,  the  capture  of  Jackson,  and  the  destruction  of  the 
property  and  manufactories  of  the  rebel  Government  there  ;  the 
rapid  march  westward,  the  severe  battles  of  Champion  Hill  and 
of  Black  Eiver  bridge,  and  the  eminently  skilful  management 
of  the  corps  of  Generals  Sherman  and  McPherson.     Suffice  it 
to  say,  that   General  Grant  interposed  his  army  between  the 
forces  of  Johnston  and  Pemberton,   drove   the  former,  broken 
and  routed,  northward,  and  compelled  the  latter  to  put  himself 
and  his  defeated  army  as  soon  as  possible  within  the  defences  of 
Yicksburg ;  and  on  the  18th  the  Union  army  sat  down  before 
Yicksburg,  having  completely  invested  it  on  the  land  side  and 
opened  communication  with  their  squadron  and  transports  by 
way  of  Walnut  Bluffs,  above  the  river.     On  the  19th  of  May, 
and  again  on  the  22d,  General  Grant  ordered  assaults  upon  the 
beleaguered  city,  neither  of  which  were  successful,  except -in 
gaining  some  ground  and  expediting  the  subsequent  regular  ap- 
proaches.    The  army  now  became  satisfied  that  the  stronghold 
could  only  be  captured  by  a  systematic  siege,  and  General  Grant 
accordingly  took  all  precautions  to  make  that  siege  effective, 
and  to  prevent  the  rebel  General  Johnston  from  approaching 
with  sufficient  force  to  raise  the  siege.    Day  by  day  the  parallels 
were  brought  nearer  and  nearer,  and  finally  came  so  near  that 
the  rebels  could  not  use  their  cannon,  while  the  Union  artillery 
from  the  adjacent  hills,  and  from  the  squadron,  constantly  show- 


44  MEN"   OF   OUR   DAY. 

ered  their  iron  hail  upon  the  devoted  city.  The  inhabitants  and 
the  rebel  army  dug  caves  in  the  bluffs,  and  endeavored  to  shel- 
ter themselves  from  the  fiery  storm,  but  these  were  often  pen- 
etrated by  the  shells  from  the  batteries, "or  blown  up  in  the 
explosion  of  the  forts.  At  length,  on  the  third  of  July,  General 
Grant  was  prepared  to  order  an  assault,  which  could  not  have 
failed  of  success,  when  overtures  were  made  for  a  surrender,  and 
the  city  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  Union  army  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1863. 

It  is  stated  that  at  the  interview  between  General  Grant  and 
General  Pemberton,  after  shaking  hands,  and  a  short  silence, 
General  Pemberton  said : 

"  General  Grant,  I  meet  you  in  order  to  arrange  terms  for  the 
capitulation  of  the  city  of  Vicksburg  and  its  garrison.  What 
terms  do  you  demand  ?" 

"  Unconditional  surrender"  replied  General  Grant. 

"  Unconditional  surrender !"  said  Pemberton.  "  Never,  so 
long  as  I  have  a  man  left  me !  I  will  fight  rather." 

"  Then,  sir,  you  can  continue  the  defence,11  replied  Grant.  "  My 
army  has  never  been  in  a  better  condition  for  the  prosecution  of  the, 
siege" 

During  this  conversation,  General  Pemberton  was  greatly  agi- 
tated, trembling  with  emotion  from  head  to  foot,  while  Grant  was 
as  calm  and  imperturbable  as  a  May  morning.  After  a  somewhat 
protracted  interview,  during  which  General  Grant,  in  considera- 
tion of  the  courage  and  tenacity  of  the  garrison,  explained  the 
terms  he  was  disposed  to  allow  to  them  on  their  unconditional 
surrender;  the  two  generals  separated,  an  armistice  having 
been  declared  till  morning,  when  the  question  of  surrender  was 
to  be  finally  determined.  The  same  evening  Cteneral  Grant 
transmitted  to  General  Pemberton,  in  writing,  the  propositions 
he  had  made  during  the  afternoon  for  the  disposal  of  the  garri- 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  45 

son,  should  they  surrender.  These  terms  were  very  liberal,  far 
more  so  than  those  usually  acceded  to  a  conquered  garrison. 

The  rebel  loss  in  this  campaign  had  been  very  great,  larger 
than  has  often  been  experienced  in  the  campaigns  of  modern 
times,  and  utterly  without  precedent  in  the  previous  history  of 
this  continent.  The  number  of  prisoners  captured  by  the  Union 
troops,  from  the  landing  at  Bruinsburg  to,  and  including  the 
surrender  of  Yicksburg,  was  34,620,  including  one  lieutenant- 
general  and  nineteen  major  and  brigadier-generals ;  and  11,800 
men  were  killed,  wounded,  or  deserters.  There  were  also  among 
the  spoils  of  the  campaign  two  hundred  and  eleven  field-pieces, 
ninety  siege  guns,  and  45,000  small  arms.  The  Union  losses 
had  been  943  killed,  7,095  wounded,  and  537  missing,  making 
a  total  of  casualties  of  8,575,  and  of  the  wounded,  nearly  one 
half  returned  to  duty  within  a  month. 

Having  disposed  of  his  prisoners  at  Yicksburg,  General  Grant 
dispatched  General  Sherman  with  an  adequate  force  to  Jackson, 
to  defeat  and  break  up  Johnston's  army,  and  destroy  the  rebel 
stores  collected  there,  in  both  which  enterprises  he  was  suc- 
cessful. 

During  the  long  period  of  two  and  a  quarter  years  since  he 
had  entered  the  army,  General  Grant  had  never  sought  or  re- 
ceived a  day's  furlough.  But  after  this  great  victory,  and  while 
the  thanks  of  the  President,  the  Cabinet,  Congress,  and  the  peo- 
ple, were  lavished  upon  him  without  stint,  he  sought  for  a  few 
days'  rest  with  his  family,  and  received  it.  His  stay  with  them 
was  brief,  and  he  returned  to  his  duties,  descending  the  Missis- 
sippi— now,  thanks  to  his  skilful  generalship,  open  to  the  navi- 
gation of  all  nations,  from  its  mouth  to  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony 
— to  New  Orleans,  to  confer  with  General  Banks  relative  to  the 
operations  of  the  autumn.  While  here,  on  the  4th  of  Septem- 


46  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

her,  he  was  seriously  injured  by  being  thrown  from  his  horse 
while  reviewing  the  troops  of  General  Banks'  department. 

From  these  injuries  he  did  not  recover  sufficiently  to  take 
the  field,  till  late  in  October.  Meantime,  there  had  been  hard- 
fighting,  as  well  as  weary  marches,  and  severe  privations  en- 
dured by  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  General  Eosecrans, 
moving  forward  in  June,  had  driven  General  Bragg,  not  with- 
out considerable  fighting,  from  Tullahoma,  and  through  south- 
ern Tennessee,  into  and  out  of  Chattanooga,  and,  throwing  a 
small  garrison  into  that  town,  had  marched  southward  to  inter- 
cept Bragg's  further  retreat,  and  compel  him  to  fight.  Bragg, 
meantime,  strongly  reinforced  from  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir- 
ginia, had  joined  battle  with  him  in  the  valley  of  Chickamauga 
creek,  where  on  the  19th  and  20th  of  September,  1862,  was 
fought  one  of  the  great  actions  of  the  war.  Though  not  abso- 
lutely defeated,  Kosecrans  had  found  it  necessary  to  fall  back  to 
Chattanooga,  which  he  held,  though  closely  beleagured  by 
Bragg,  who  had  compelled  him  to  relinquish  some  of  his  most 
important  communications,  and  drag  his  supplies  over  sixty 
miles  of  the  worst  mountain  roads  in  the  southwest.  This 
measure  was  but  temporary,  however,  and  was  about  to  be  reme- 
died, when  he  was  relieved  of  the  command,  to  which  General 
Thomas  was  assigned.  General  Sherman,  now  in  the  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  was  ordered  up  to  his  support, 
and  two  corps  sent  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  Gen- 
erals Hooker  and  Howard.  This  magnificent  army  was  placed 
under  General  Grant's  command,  as  the  Military  Division  of 
the  Mississippi.  On  Grant's  arrival  at  Chattanooga,  his  first 
care  was  to  open  communications,  and  provide  for  full  supplies 
for  his  soldiers,  who  had  been  on  half  rations  for  some  time. 
Bragg,  at  thi^  time,  sent  Longstreet's  corps  to  Knoxville,  to 
drive  Burnside  from  east  Tennessee,  and  unaware  of  Grant's 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  47 

large  reinforcements,  he  proved  true  to  his  name,  and  on  the 
21st  of  November,  1863,  sent  this  arrogant  message  to  General 
Grant  by  flag  of  truce : 

*/  o 

"  Humanity  would  dictate  the  removal  of  all  non-combatants 
from  Chattanooga,  as  I  am  about  to  shell  the  city." 

General  Grant  made  no  reply  to  the  threat  at  the  moment,  but 
his  answer  was  speedily  returned,  and  proved  so  effectual,  that 
Bragg  gave  up  all  idea  of  "  shelling  the  city"  from  that  time 
forward. 

Sherman's  Army  of  the  Tennessee  had  been  coming  into  the 
city  and  its  vicinity,  since  the  15th  of  November,  by  roads 
which  led  to  the  rear,  and  hence  had  not  been  observed  by 
Bragg's  lookout ;  and  on  the  evening  of  the  23d  of  November, 
lay  concealed  above  Chattanooga,  on  the  north  bank,  and  ready 
for  the  crossing.  Then  followed  that  admirably  planned  combi- 
nation of  movements  which  reflected  so  much  skill  on  Grant's 
strategic  ability.  General  Thomas,  with  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  marched  out  with  all  the  order  and  stateliness  of 
a  grand  review,  and  while  the  enemy  looked  on  and  wondered, 
seized  Orchard  Knob,  their  most  advanced  position,  held  and 
fortified  it.  Hooker,  with  his  eastern  troops,  marching  along 
the  western  flank  of  Lookout  Mountain,  suddenly  climbed  its 
steep  sides,  and  rising  from  one  elevation  to  another,  drove  the 
enemy  up  and  over  the  crest  of  the  mountain — the  batteries 
echoing  and  reverberating  among  the  mountains  till,  with  the 
valleys  below  obscured  by  clouds  and  smoke,  which  did  not  rise 
to  his  own  lofty  position,  he  fought  that  battle  above  the  clouds 
which  has  been  so  greatly  celebrated ;  and  Sherman  advancing, 
destroyed  the  railway,  and  captured,  with  but  slight  effort,  the 
most  advanced  post  of  the  enemy  at  the  northeast.  Such  was 
the  work  of  November  24th ;  that  of  November  25th  was  more 
serious,  but  crowned  with  perfect  success.  Hooker,  descending 


48  MEN    OF    OUR    DAY. 

from  the  eastern  and  less  precipitous  slope  of  Lookout  Moun- 
tain, some  distance  below  Chattanooga,  pursued  the  flying  rebels 
up  to  the  crest  of  Mission  Ridge,  and  drove  them  from  Fort 
Bragg,  the  southernmost  of  their  forts  crossing  the  Ridge. 
Sherman,  by  persistent  pounding  and  repeated  assaults  upon 
Fort  Buckner,  the  northernmost  of  their  forts,  had  succeeded 
in  drawing  a  considerable  portion  of  the  garrison  of  the  central 
fort,  Fort  Breckinridge,  to  the  support  of  the  Fort  Buckner 
garrison,  and  when,  at  a  little  past  three  o'clock  P.  M.,  the  signal 
guns  sounded  from  Fort  Wood,  on  Orchard  Knob,  the  picked 
men  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  sprang  to  arms,  climbed 
the  precipitous  sides  of  Mission  Ridge,  under  a  most  terrific  fire, 
swept  through  Fort  Breckinridge,  and  drove  the  foe,  pell  mcll, 
down  the  farther  slope  of  the  Ridge,  and  Sherman's  men  pos- 
sessed themselves  quietly  of  the  fort,  against  which  they  had 
flung  themselves  so  fiercely  all  day.  No  more  brilliant  action 
occurred  during  the  war ;  and  when  it  was  followed  by  a  prompt 
pursuit  of  the  enemy,  and  by  sending  Sherman  with  his  wearied, 
but  always  obedient  and  victorious  troops,  to  Knoxville,  to 
compel  Longstreet  to  raise  the  siege  of  that  town,  and  to  drive 
him  among  the  mountains  of  western  Virginia  in  midwinter, 
the  admiration  of  the  nation  for  Grant  knew  no  bounds.  The 
President  but  expressed  the  popular  feeling,  when  he  sent  to  the 
successful  general  the  following  telegraphic  dispatch : 

1;  WASHINGTON,  DEC.  8,  1863. 

"MAJOR-GENERAL  GRANT: 

"Understanding  that  your  lodgment  at  Chattanooga  and 
Knoxville  is  now  secure,  T  wish  to  tender  you,  and  all  under 
your  command,  my  more  than  thanks — my  profoundest  grati- 
tude— for  the  skill,  courage,  and  perseverance  with  which  you 
and  they,  over  so  great  difficulties,  have  effected  that  important 
object.  God*  bless  you  all !" 

"A.LINCOLN." 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  49 

On  the  17th.  of  December,  1863,  Congress  by  joint  resolution 
tendered  him  the  national  gratitude  and  provided  for  the 
preparation  of  a  gold  medal  with  suitable  emblems,  devices,  and 
inscriptions,  to  be  presented  to  him  in  token  of  the  national 
sense  of  his  services.  The  Legislatures  of  the  loyal  States  vied 
with  each  other  in  their  resolutions  of  thanks  and  in  their 
grants  of  funds,  etc.,  while  many  private  individuals  added  their 
gifts.  The  Senate  at  the  beginning  of  its  session  had  confirmed, 
almost  by  acclamation,  the  rank  of  major-general  in  the  regular 
army  which  had  been  bestowed  upon  him  by  the  President  in 
the  summer,  his  commission  dating  from  July  4,  1863. 

The  recipient  of  these  numerous  honors  seemed  in  no  wise 
elated  by  them ;  he  was  as  simple  and  unpretending  in  his  man- 
ners, as  reticent  on  all  political  topics,  and  as  averse  to  any 
thing  looking  like  display,  as  when  he  was  a  farmer  at  St.  Louis, 
or  a  clerk  at  Galena. 

There  was  yet  much  to  be  done  to  bring  his  army  at  Chatta- 
nooga into  good  condition.  His  communications  with  his  bases 
at  Nashville  and  Louisville  must  be  repaired  and  strengthened, 
his  men  better  fed,  supplies  accumulated  at  Chattanooga  and 
Nashville,  for  the  campaigns  in  the  not  distant  future  in  Georgia. 
In  concert  with  his  tried  friend  and  trusty  lieutenant,  Sherman, 
he  planned  an  expedition  into  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  territory 
at  Meridian,  Mississippi,  to  be  met  by  one  from  Memphis,  down 
the  Mobile  and  Ohio  railroad,  which,  by  thoroughly  breaking 
their  lines  of  communication,  should  cripple  their  movements 
in  the  future,  and  during  the  months  of  January,  while  General 
Sherman  was  completing  the  details  of  this  enterprise,  he 
visited  and  inspected  in  person  all  the  posts  and  stations  of  his 
widely  extended  command.  The  Meridian  expedition  was  but 
a  partial  success,  owing  to  the  failure  of  the  cavarlry  portion  of 


50  MEN   OF   OUK   DAY. 

it  to  co-operate  effectively ;  but  it  seriously  embarrassed  the 
rebels  in  their  subsequent  operations. 

"While  it  was  in  progress,  Major-General  Grant  was  summoned 
to  Washington,  where  he  was  called  to  assume  new  and  still 
higher  responsibilities.  Congress  had  resolved  to  revive  the 
grade  of  lieutenant-general,  which  had  been  borne  as  a  full  rank 
only  by  General  Washington  (General  Scott's  title  being  only 
by  brevet) ;  and  a  law  to  that  effect  having  been  passed,  the 
President  at  once  conferred  the  rank  upon  Major-General  Grant 
and  the  Senate  confirmed  it.  The  commission  bore  the  date  of 
March  2d,  1864,  and  on  the  9th  of  that  month  the  President 
delivered  it  to  him  in  person,  accompanied  by  a  brief  address 
expressive  of  his  own  pleasure  in  doing  him  such  an  honor,  and 
a  word  of  monition  as  to  the  great  responsibilities  which  it 
would  devolve  upon  him.  On  the  12th  of  March,  the  President, 
by  official  order,  invested  the  lieutenant-general  with  the  com- 
mand of  the  armies  of  the  United  States ;  at  the  same  time  ap- 
pointing, at  Lieutenant-General  Grant's  instance,  Major-General 
W.  T.  Sherman,  commander  of  the  Military  Division  of  the 
Mississippi ;  General  McPherson,  commander  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  General  Halleck,  hitherto  general  in  chief,  chief 
of  staff  of  the  army,  to  reside  in  Washington. 

The  subsequent  seven  or  eight  weeks  were  busy  ones  for 
General  Grant.  The  various  commands  of  the  army  were  to  be 
visited,  a  simultaneous  campaign  for  the  two  armies  arranged 
with  General  Sherman,  supplies  collected  and  troops  accumula- 
ted to  a  far  greater  extent  than  at  any  previous  time ;  the  army 
corps  to  be  strengthened  and  some  of  them  reorganized,  and  all 
preparations  made  for  a  campaign  which  should  end  only  with 
the  war.  The  armies  of  the  eastern  division,  which  were  to 
operate  against  the  rebel  General  Lee,  he  proposed  to  command 
in  person ;  those  of  the  west  were  to  be  directed  by  Major- 


GENERAL    ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  51 

General  Sherman.  His  own  especial  command,  as  reorganized 
under  his  supervision,  consisted  of;  first,  the  army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, numbering  in  all  13'), 000  men,  though  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  campaign,  a  part  were  not  yet  present ;  this  was 
commanded  by  General  George  G.  Meade,  an  able  and  experi- 
enced officer,  and  its  corps  commanders  were  Hancock,  Warren, 
Sedgwick,  and  Burnside.  It  confronted  Lee's  army  from 
the  north  side  of  the  Eapidan.  Second,  the  army  of  the  James, 
consisting  of  about  30,000  troops,  under  the  command  of  Major1- 
General  Butler,  with  General  Gillmore  as  a  subordinate;  this 
was  in  a  position  to  strike  either  at  Eichmond  or  Petersburg. 
Third,  the  army  of  the  Shenandoah,  under  the  command  of 
Major-General  Franz  Sigel,  then  about  17,000  strong,  but  subse- 
quently increased  by  the  addition  of  the  nineteenth  army  corps, 
from  the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  Besides  these  there  was  a  strong 
cavalry  force,  under  the  command  of  the  young  but  efficient 
general,  Philip  H.  Sheridan.  The  forward  movement  was 
made  on  the  4th  of  May,  1864,  and  resulted  in  the  bloody  but 
indecisive  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  May  5  and  6,  1864,  a 'for- 
ward movement  by  the  left  flank  to  Spottsylvania,  and  a  series 
of  battles  there,  May  8-21,  hardly  more  decisive,  and  not  less 
bloody  than  the  preceding;  another  flank  movement  to  and 
across  the  North  Anna,  and  two  days  of  hard  fighting,  May 
21-25 ;  a  recrossing  of  the  North  Anna,  a  flanking  of  the  enemy 
and  crossing  of  the  Pamunkey,  and  the  battle  of  Tolopotomoy, 
May  28  and  29,  and  of  Bethesda  church,  May  30.  Another  at- 
tempt to  surprise  the  enemy  by  a  flank  movement,  brought  the 
two  armies  face  to  face  at  Cold  Harbor,  one  of  the  battle  grounds 
of  1862,  but  this  time  with  the  positions  of  the  two  armies  re- 
versed. 

Finding  himself  unable  to  gain  the  flank  of  Lee's  army — that 
general  moving  on  interior  and  shorter  lines,  and  though  with 


52  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

an  inferior  force;  being  fully  his  equal  in  military  strategy— 
Lieutenant-General  Grant  now  took  the  resolution  of  throwing 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  south  of  the  James,  and  assailing 
Petersburg  and  Richmond  from  that  direction.  His  losses  in 
this  month  of  battles  had  been  frightful,  nearly  60,000  men 
being  hors  du  combat,  either  among  the  slain,  wounded,  or  pris- 
oners. He  had  inflicted  heavy  losses  on  the  enemy,  but  they 
were  not  equal  to  his  own,  as  their  numbers  were  materially 
less ;  but,  with  that  pertinacity  and  resolution  which  is  so 
striking  an  element  of  his  character,  he  would  not  relax  his 
efforts  in  the  least,  and  was  determined  to  pound  away  upon  his 
foes  till  he  had  ground  them  to  powder.  Crossing  the  James 
successfully,  he  commenced  a  series  of  assaults  on  Petersburg, 
but  without  any  considerable  success.  The  construction  of 
siege  lines  around  the  city,  to  the  east  and  south  ;  the  mining 
of  one  of  its  forts ;  demonstrations  alternately  toward  the  Wei- 
don  and  the  Southside  railroads,  followed ;  but  with  no  con- 
siderable success.  His  cavalry,  under  Sheridan,  Wilson,  and 
Kavitz,  were  kept  actively  employed  in  raids  upon  the  enemy's 
lines  of  communication.  The  army  of  the  Shenandoah  had 
made  lamentable  failures  under  Sigel  and  Hunter,  and  their 
adversary,  Early,  had  descended  into  Maryland,  threatened 
Baltimore  and  Washington,  and  only  been  driven  from  the 
vicinity  of  the  capital,  by  the  hurried  advance  of  troops  from 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  the  Department  of  the  Gulf. 
The  Government,  always  in  terror  of  attacks  upon  the  capital, 
clamored  loudly  for  protection ;  but  while  General  Grant  would 
not  farther  weaken  his  force  around  Petersburg,  he  sent  a  man  to 
command  the  Department  of  the  Shenandoah,  who  was  himself 
worth  an  army  corps.  General  Sheridan,  in  a  succession  of 
well-planned  and  hard-fought  battles,  disposed  of  General  Early, 
and  subsequently  raided  through  the  whole  Shenandoah  and 


GENERAL    ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  53  • 

Luray  valleys,  laying  them  desolate,  for  the  aid,  shelter  and 
support  they  had  given  to  the  bands  of  guerrillas.  The  autumn 
and  early  winter  was  consumed  in  attempts  to  cut  the  lines  of 
communication  from  the  west  and  southwest  of  Petersburg  and 
Richmond,  by ,  which  the  rebel  armies  were  supplied.  The 
Virginia  and  Tennessee  road  was  destroyed  by  Gillem  and 
Stoneman ;  the  Manassas  and  Lynchburg  roads,  the  James  River 
canal  and  the  slackwater  navigation  broken  up,  and  the  sup- 
plies in  the  warehouses  destroyed  by  Sheridan ;  and  at  each 
effort  along  Hatcher's  Run  some  ground  was  gained,  and  a 
nearer  approach  made  to  the  only  artery  of  communication 
which  remained,  the  Southside  railroad.  This  was  accom- 
plished at  a  heavy  cost  of  life,  but  there  was  an  advance  which 
betokened  the  speedy  coming  of  the  end. 

Meantime,  Admiral  Farragut  had,  in  the  grandest  of  naval 
battles,  defeated  the  squadron  and  captured  the  forts  which 
defended  Mobile  Bay ;  Sherman  had,  after  a  campaign  of  great  se- 
verity, captured  Atlanta,  and  partially  destroyed  it — had  moved 
onward,  with  his  vast  columns,  to  the  sea — had  captured  Savan- 
nah— and,  turning  northward,  had  swept,  as  with  the  besom  of 
destruction,  South  Carolina,  compelling  the  surrender  of  Charles- 
ton, and  the  other  principal  towns  of  South  and  North  Caro- 
lina ;  the  forts  which  had  protected  the  harbor  of  Wilmington, 
North  Carolina,  had  succumbed,  on  a  second  attack,  to  the 
prowess  of  Admiral  Porter  and  General  Terry— and  Wilming- 
ton itself  had  fallen  before  Terry  and  Schofield ;  General 
Thomas  had  driven  Hood  out  of  Tennessee,  with  such  terrible 
slaughter  that  he  could  not  assemble  another  army. 

All  things  portended  the  speedy  collapse  of  this  formidable 
rebellion.  Grant  now  moved  forward ;  and  after  some  hard 
fighting,  Sheridan,  under  his  direction,  carried  the  strong  po- 
sition of  Five  Forks,  and  drove  those  of  the  enemy  who  were 


54:  MEN    OF   OUR   DAY. 

uot  slain  or  captured,  westward,  where  they  could  not  aid  in 
continuing  the  defence  of  Lee's  already  weakened  lines.  April 
2d,  1865,  the  line  of  the  Southside  railroad  was  thoroughly 
broken ;  April  3d,  the  cities  of  Petersburg  and  Eichmond  were 
evacuated  and  surrendered.  The  flying  rebel  army,  bereft  of 
supplies,  hungry  and  despairing,  were  pursued  unremittingly ; 
and  on  the  9th  of  April,  General  Lee  surrendered  to  General 
Grant  the  remnant  of  the  Army  of  Virginia.  Then  came  the 
entrance  into  Eichmond ;  the  President's  visit  there ;  and  the 
sad  scene  of  the  assassination  of  the  President,  whose  fate 
General  Grant  only  escaped  by  the  providence  of  God,  which 
called  him  suddenly  to  Philadelphia  that  night.  The  news  of 
the  proposed  terms  of  capitulation  offered  ^to  Johnston  by 
General  Sherman,  coming  just  at  this  juncture,  roused,  on  the 
part  of  the  Government,  such  strong  disapproval,  that  General 
Grant  immediately  went  to  Kaleigh,  and  by  wise  and  adroit 
management  saved  his  friend  from  disgrace,  and  the  country 
from  any  evils  which  might  have  resulted  from  Sherman's 
terms. 

The  speedy  end  of  the  war  ensued,  and  General  Grant's 
duties  thenceforward  were  rather  administrative  than  military. 
He  made  a  tour  through  the  Southern  States  in  1865,  and  sub- 
seqently  flying  visits  to  the  northern  cities.  The  gratitude  of 
the  people  for  his  eminent  services  followed  him.  A  residence 
was  presented  to  him  at  Galena,  another  in  Philadelphia,  and 
another  still  in  Washington.  The  merchants  of  New  York 
raised  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  as  an  indication  of  their  sense 
of  his  great  services  to  the  country.  On  the  25th  of  July,  1866, 
Congress  created  the  grade  of  full  general,  hitherto  unknown  to 
our  country,  and  stipulating  that  it  should  lapse  after  his  death 
or  resignation  of  it,  conferred  it  upon  him.  In  the  summer  of 
1866,  by  express  command  of  the  President,  General  Grant  ac- 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  55 

com  parried  him  in  his  western  tour ;  but  he  sought  in  vain  to 
commit  him  to  any  approval  of  his  cause  and  policy.  Subse- 
quently, in  August,  1867,  when  Mr.  Johnson's  long  and  ill-dis- 
guised hatred  of  the  Secretary  of  War  broke  out  into  hostility, 
and  he  demanded  Mr.  Stanton's  resignation,  on  the  refusal  of 
that  officer  to  resign,  Mr.  Johnson  suspended  him  from  office 
and  appointed  General  Grant  Secretary  ad  interim.  The  general 
accepted  the  position,  managed  the  office  wisely  and  well,  and 
when  the  Senate  decided  that  Mr.  Stanton's  removal  was  un- 
justifiable, surrendered  it  at  once  to  the  Secretary.  This  act 
excited  Mr.  Johnson's  anger,  and  he  sought,  in  a  series  of  letters, 
but  with  his  usual  ill-success,  to  fasten  upon  the  general  charges 
of  insincerity,  inveracity,  and  treachery. 

General  Grant  is  not  and  has  never  professed  to  be  a  politi- 
cian. He  is  not  an  ambitious  man,  and  in  one  whom  the  politi- 
cians find  it  very  hard  to  use ;  for,  though  he  has  very  clear 
and  well  defined  opinions  on  the  political  questions  of  the  day, 
he  is  extremely  reticent  and  has  a  way  of  baffling  all  attempts 
to  maintain  a  political  conversation  with  him,  which  almost 
drives  the  newspaper  correspondents  mad.  That  he  favors  the 
reconstruction  policy  of  Congress,  thinks  the  colored  population 
of  the  reconstructed  States  should  enjoy  the  privilege  of  suffrage, 
and  all  other  political  rights  to  which  the  whites  are  entitled,  is 
we  suppose,  no  secret. 

He  is  the  favorite  candidate  of  the  Eepublican  party  for  the 
Presidency,  and  yet  though  in  thorough  sympathy  with  that 
party,  he  has  never  sought  the  nomination  for  that  great  office, 
or  in  any  way  manifested  the  slightest  pleasure  at  the  idea  of 
receiving  it.  His  sound  judgment  of  character,  his  remarkable 
skill  in^  always  putting  "  the  right  man  in  the  right  place,"  his 
superior  administrative  talents,  and  his  calm  and  cool  tempera- 


56  MEN   OF   OUR  DAY. 

ment  eminently  fit  him  for  a  station  of  such  responsibility  and 
trial. 

In  person,  General  Grant  is  somewhat  below  the  common 
height,  neither  spare  nor  stout ;  of  great  powers  of  endurance, 
and  of  uniformly  good  health.  He  is  a  great  smoker,  likes  a 
game  of  billiards,  and  now  as  in  boyhood,  delights  in  a  good 
horse.  He  is  strictly  temperate,*  quiet,  sedate,  and  reticent; 

*  Great  efforts  have  been  made  to  fasten  upon  the  general,  the  charge 
of  frequent  or  habitual  drunkenness;  and  the  President  is  said  to  have 
charged  that  he  was  intoxicated  most  of  the  time  during  their  journey  to 
Chicago,  commonly  known  as  Mr.  Johnson's  "swinging  round  the  circle." 
We  have  the  strongest  evidence  that  these  reports  are  false,  and  in  some 
instances  they  were  undoubtedly  prompted  by  malice.  We  have  alluded  to 
the  fact  that,  while  in  the  army  in  California  and  Oregon,  he  did  drink 
freely.  But  on  his  return  to  the  States,  he  abandoned  this  habit,  and  the 
testimony  of  his  classmates  and  friends,  Copp6e,  Buell,  Reynolds,  of  his 
venerable  father,  of  Hon.  E.  B.  Washburne,  and  Hon.  Henry  Wilson,  is 
perfectly  conclusive  as  to  the  fact  that  he  has  never  resumed  the  practice 
of  indulging  in  intoxicating  drinks. 

The  following  incidents,  which  appeared  in  the  "TTie  Nation,"  may  serve 
to  show  on  what  insufficient  and  erroneous  grounds  these  reports  are  often 
based.  Mr.  Olmstead  and  Rev.  Mr.  Knapp  were,  at  the  time  referred,  to  Sec- 
retary and  Assistant-Secretary  of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission: 

"To  the  Editor  of  the  Nation  : — 

"One  day,  in  the  spring  of  1863,  Mr.  Frederick  Knapp  and  myself  were 
the  guests  of  General  Grant,  at  his  headquarters,  on  a  steamboat  lying  at 
Milliken's  Bend,  a  few  miles  above  Vicksburg.  A  curtain  had  been  hung 
in  such  a  way  as  to  give  a  certain  degree  of  seclusion  to  the  after-part  of 
the  main  cabin,  and  when  we  rose  from  dinner  we  were  asked  to  sit  with 
the  general  behind  the  screen,  where  there  was  a  writing  table  with  pitcher 
and  glasses.  The  general  then  told  us  that  he  had  a  few  hours  before 
received  unfavorable  intelligence  from  General  Sherman's  expedition  up 
the  Sunflower.  Inviting  our  inquiries,  and  replying  to  all  we  thought  it 
proper  to  make,  with  an  unexpectedly  generous  freedom  and  painstaking 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  57 

likes  simple  ways,   and  simple  food ;  abhors  ostentation ;  can 
converse  well  and  clearly,  but  prefers  to  listen  rather  than  to 

thoroughness  of  explanation,  he  was  gradually  led  into  a  comprehensive 
review  of  the  existing  conditions  of  his  campaign,  which  it  was  easy  to  see 
were  of  the  very  gravest  character.  "We  were  impressed  as  much  by  the 
remarkably  methodical  clearness  of  the  narration  as  by  the  simple  candor 
and  ingenuousness  with  which  it  was  given  to  us  who,  the  day  before,  had 
been  strangers  to  him.  He  took  up  several  hypotheses  and  suggestions, 
and  analyzed  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  prominent  the  uncertainties 
and  uncontrol  lable  elements  which  were  involved  in  them,  and  I  could  not  but 
think,  so  musing  and  quietly  reflective  was  his  mannner,  and  yet  so  exact 
and  well  arranged  his  expressions,  that  he  was  simply  repeating  a  process 
of  "  thinking  it  out,"  in  order  to  assure  himself  that  he  fully  comprehended 
and  gave  just  weight  to  all  the  important  elements  of  some  grand  military 
problem,  the  solution  of  which  he  was  about  to  undertake. 
-  "  (The  last  attempt  to  attack  Vicksburg  on  the  north  ended  that  day,  and 
a  few  days  after  our  interview  the  first  step  was  taken  looking  toward  the 
approach  from  the  south ;  but  of  this  no  hint  was  given  us,  and  we  only 
heard  of  it  the  next  morning.) 

"  All  at  once  he  stopped  short,  and,  with  an  expression  of  surprise,  if  not 
of  distress,  put  his  cigar  away,  rose,  and  moved  his  chair  aside.  A  moment 
before,  we  could  not  have  imagined  that  there  was  a  woman"  within  many 
miles  of  us  ;  but,  turning  my  eyes,  I  saw  one  who  had  just  parted  the 
screen,  comely,  well  dressed,  and  with  the  air  and  manner  of  a  gentlewoman. 
She  had  just  arrived  by  a  steamboat  from  Memphis,  and  came  to  present 
General  Grant  with  a  memorial  or  petition.  In  a  few  words  she  made 
known  her  purpose,  and  offered  to  give  in  detail  certain  facts,  of  which  she 
stated  she  was  cognizant,  bearing  upon  her  object.  The  general  stood 
listening  to  her  in  an  attitude  of  the  most  deferential  attention,  his  hand 
dtill  upon  his  chair,  which  was  half  in  front  of  him  as  he  turned  to  face 
her,  and  slightly  nodding  his  head  as  an  expression  of  assent  to  almost 
every  sentence  she  uttered.  When  she  had  completed  her  statement,  he 
said,  speaking  very  low  and  with  an  appearance  of  reluctance :  '  I  shall  be 
compelled  to  consult  my  medical  director,  and  to  obtain  a  report  from  him 
before  I  can  meet  your  wishes.  If  agreeable  to  you,  I  will  ask  him  to  call 
upon  you  to-morrow ;  shall  I  say  at  11  o'clock  ?'  The  lady  bowed  and 


58  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

speak.  He  is  a  firm  and  enduring  friend,  and  not  a  bitter  or 
vindictive 'enemy.  Few  men  are  more  free  from  envy  or  jeal- 

withdrew ;  the  general  took  a  long  breath,  resumed  his  cigar  and  his  seat, 
said  that  he  was  inclined  to  think  her  proposition  a  reasonable  and  humane 
one,  and  then  went  on  with  the  interrupted  review. 

"A  week  or  two  after  this,  having  gone  up  the  river,  Mr.  Knapp  met  this 
lady  at  a  hotel,  when,  in  the  course  of  a  conversation,  she  referred  with 
much  sadness  to  the  deplorable  habits  of  General  Grant,  and  the  hopeless- 
ness of  success  while  our  army  was  commanded  by  a  man  so  unfit  to  be 
charged  with  any  grave  responsibility.  Mr.  Knapp  replied  that  he  had 
the  best  reason  for  stating  that  the  reports  to  which  she  referred  were  with- 
out foundation,  and  proceeded  to  give  her  certain  exact  information  of 
which  he  happened  to  be  possessed,  which,  as  far  as  possible,  refuted  them. 
'  Unfortunately,'  said  the  lady,  '  I  have  certain  knowledge  that  they  are 
but  too  true.'  She  then  described  her  recent  interview  with  General 
Grant,  and  it  appeared  that,  from  her  point  of  view,  the  general  was  en- 
gaged in  a  carouse  with  one  or  two  boon  companions  when  she  came  un- 
expectedly upon  him ;  that  he  rose  to  his  feet  with  difficulty,  could  not 
stand  without  staggering,  and  was  obliged  to  support  himself  with  a  chair  ; 
that  he  was  evidently  conscious  that  he  was  in  an  unfit  condition  to  attend 
to  business,  and  wanted  to  put  her  off  till  the  next  day  ;  that  his  voice  was 
thick,  he  spoke  incoherently,  and  she  was  so  much  shocked  that  she  was 
obliged  to  withdraw  almost  immediately.  The  neat  day,  being  ashamed 
to  see  her  himself,  he  sent  his  doctor  to  find  out  what  she  wanted. 

"  Mr.  Knapp  then  told  her  that,  having  been  one  of  the  boon  companions 
whom  she  had  observed  with  the  general  on  that  occasion,  and  that  having 
dined  with  him,  and  been  face  to  face  with  him  for  fully  three  hours,  he 
not  only  knew  that  he  was  under  the  influence  of  no  drink  stronger  than 
the  unqualified  mud  of  the  Mississippi,  but  he  could  assure  her  that  he 
had  never  seen  a  man  who  appeared  to  him  more  thoroughly  sober  and 
clear-headed  than  General  Grant  at  the  moment  of  her  entrance. 

"  Notwithstanding  his  assurances,  the  lady  repeated  that  she  could  not 
doubt  the  evidence  of  her  own  senses,  and  I  suppose  that  to  this  day,  Mr. 
Knapp  and  myself  rank  equally  with  General  Grant,  in  her  mind,  as  con. 
firmed  drunkards. 


GENERAL   ULYSSES   SIMPSON   GRANT.  59 

ousy ;  the  promotion  and  advancement  of  others,  even  when  it 
seemed  an  implied  censure  on  himself,  he  has  always  most  cor- 
dially approved.  He  is  not  a  man  of  genius,  and  in  his  military 

"  This  experience  is  by  no  means  a  unique  one,  and  the  zealous  devotion 
with  which  I  have  often  heard  both  men  and  women  undermining  the 
character  of  others  for  temperance,  on  equally  slight  grounds,  has  often 
led  me  to  question  if  there  are  not  vices  in  our  society  more  destructive 
to  sound  judgment  and  honest  courses  than  that  of  habitual  overdrinking. 
"Yours,  respectfully,  FRED.  LAW  OLMSTED." 

The  Evening  Post,  after  quoting  this  letter,  adds : 

"  We  can  tell  another  story  of  the  same  kind.  While  Grant  lay  before 
Vicksburg  a  letter  came  to  this  office  from  a  respectable  and  generally 
trustworthy  person  in  a  western  city,  an  ardent  Unionist,  and  a  man  of 
influence,  in  which  we  were  told,  as  positively  and  undeniably  true,  that 
on  a  certain  occasion,  Grant  and  his  staff  went  from  Springfield  to  Cairo 
in  the  car  of  the  president  of  the  railroad ;  that  on  the  way  the  whole 
party,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  got  uproariously  drunk,  and  that  Grant 
was  the  worst  of  the  company.  This,  the  writer  said,  he  knew  to  be  true, 
and  on  this  and  other  evidence,  he  desired  The  Evening  Post  to  demand 
the  removal  of  Grant. 

"  By  a  singular  coincidence,  Mr.  Osborne,  then  President  of  the  Illinois 
Central  railroad,  happened  to  come  into  this  office  while  the  letter  we 
speak  of  was  under  discussion,  and,  of  course,  he  was  asked  about  the 
story  it  told.  He  replied,  at  once,  '  It  is  a  malignant  falsehood.  Grant 
and  his  staff  did  go  down  to  Cairo  in  the  president's  car ;  I  took  them  down 
myself,  and  selected  that  car  because  it  had  conveniences  for  working, 
sleeping,  and  eating  on  the  way.  We  had  dinner  in  the  car,  at  which  wine 
was  served  to  such  as  desired  it.  I  asked  Grant  what  he  would  drink  ;  he 
answered,  a  cup  of  tea,  and  this  I  made  for  him  myself.  Nobody  was 
drunk  on  the  car,  and  to  my  certain  knowledge,  Grant  tasted  no  liquid  but 
tea  and  water.' 

"  This  was  the  exact  truth  of  the  matter.  Yet  we  believe  our  corres- 
pondent wrote  in  good  faith." 


60  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

career,  like  most  great  commanders,  has  sometimes  made  great 
blunders,  but  he  has  been  quick  to  learn  even  from  his  own 
errors,  and  never  repeats  them.  In  one  word,  he  possesses  a 
clear,  sound,  well  balanced  mind,  every  faculty  of  which  is 
thoroughly  practical,  and  such  a  combination  is,  in  our  work-a- 
day  world,  worth  infinitely  more  than  genius. 


DAVID    GLASCOE    FARRAGUT. 


MONGr  the  illustrious  characters  so  rapidly  developed  by 
the  exigencies  of  the  recent  war,  none  have  so  elicited 
the  unhesitating  confidence,  or  challenged  the  uneqivo- 
cal  admiration  of  our  people,  and,  we  may  justly  add, 
of  the  civilized  world,  as  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  DAVID 
GrLASCOE  FARRAGUT.  Born  in  this  country,  he  combines  in 
his  veins  some  of  the  best  blood  of  fiery,  haughty  Spain, 
with  that  of  stern,  inflexible,  yet  genial  Scotland.  His 
father,  George  Farragut,  a  native  of  Citadella,  the  capital  of  the 
Island  of  Minorca,  and  a  descendant  of  an  ancient  and  noble 
Catalonian  family,  came  to  America  in  1776,  and  promptly 
took  part  in  the  struggle  for  Independence,  attaining  finally 
the  rank  of  major  in  the  Continental  Army.  At  the  conclusion 
of  the  war,  he  married  Elizabeth  Shine,  of  North  Carolina, 
a  descendant  from  the  old  Scotch  clan  Mclvor,  and  removed 
to  Campbell's  Station,  near  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  farming,  and  where  his  illustrious  son  was  born  on 
the  5th  of  July,  1801.  Yet  the  attractions  of  the  old  seafaring 
life  which  he  had  probably  led  before  his  arrival  in  America, 
seem  to  have  outweighed  his  love  of  farming,  and  we  find  him, 
not  long  after,  as  a  sailing-master  in  the  navy,  and  a  bosom  friend 
of  the  father  of  Commodore  Porter,  who  then  held  a  similar  rank 
The  son  inherited  the  father's  love  of  the  sea,  and,  although 

61 


62  MEN   OF   OUR  DAT. 

born  and  brought  up  among  the  Cumberland  mountains,  he 
had  hardly  reached  the  age  of  nine  and  a  half  years  before  his 
longings  for  a  sailor's  life  had  fully  overcome  the  slight 
prudential  objections  which  his  father  felt  obliged  to  urge — and 
a  midshipman's  commission  was  procured  for  him,  bearing  date, 
December  17th,  1810.  His  first  cruise  was  in  1812,  in  the 
famous  frigate  Essex,  under  the  command  of  his  own  and  hia 
father's  friend,  Master  Commander  (subsequently  Commodore) 
David  Porter. 

On  this  vessel,  young  Farragut  served,  through  the  two 
eventful  years  of  her  cruise  on  the  South  American  Coast,  and 
the  Pacific,  from  which  she  drove  the  British  commerce.  And, 
when  attacked*  in  violation  of  all  laws  of  neutrality,  in  the 
harbor  of  Valparaiso,  on  the  28th  of  March,  1814,  by  two 
British  vessels  of  superior  force,  the  Essex  was  compelled  to 
yield — but  not  until  she  had  been  several  times  on  fire,  and 
was  in  a  sinking  condition.  The  young  "middy,"  not  yet 
seventeen  years  of  age,  bore  a  fearless  part  and  was  slightly 
wounded.  Previous  to  this  event  he  had  served  as  acting- 
lieutenant  on  board  the  Atlantic,  an  armed  prize.  On  his 
return  home,  his  kind  patron,  the  Commodore,  placed  him  at 
school  at  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  where,  beside  other  studies,  he 
was  thoroughly  instructed  in  the  elements  of  military  and  naval 
tactics.  His  schooling,  however,  was  but  brief,  for,  in  1816 
he  was  again  in  active  service  on  board  the  flag-ship  of  the 
Mediterranean  Squadron.  Here  he  found,  in  the  chaplain, 
Rev.  Charles  Folsom,  a  friend  and  instructor,  to  whom  he 
attributes  much  of  the  usefulness  and  success  which  has  marked 
his  subsequent  career.  When,  shortly  after,  Mr.  Folsom  was 
appointed  consul  at  Tunis,  young  Farragut  accompanied  him, 
and  the  period  of  his  life  spent  here,  was  a  most  important  one, 
in  its  influences  upon  the  "setting"  of  his  character,  then  in  its 


DAVID  GLASCOE  FARRAGUT.  63 

"formative"  stage.  After  some  other  service  in  the  Med- 
iterranean, Farragut,  being  then  nineteen  and  a  half  years  old, 
was  promoted  (January,  1821)  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  and 
assigned  to  duty  on  the  frigate  Brandywine  of  the  West  India 
station.  In  1824,  he  was  stationed  at  the  Norfolk  Navy  Yard ; 
where  (with  the  exception  of  a  two  years'  cruise  (1828-30)  in 
the  Yandalia,  on  the  Brazil  station)  he  remained  until  1833. 
Here  he  married  his  first  wife,  a  lady  of  highly  respectable 
family ;  who,  unfortunately,  became  a  suffering  and  hopeless 
invalid,  long  and  most  tenderly  watched  over  by  her  husband, 
to  whom  her  death  was  a  most  severe  blow.  Many  years  after, 
he  married  another  Norfolk  lady,  Miss  Virginia  Loyall,  by 
whom  he  has  a  son,  Loyall  Farragut,  who  graduates  from  West 
Point  the  present  year.  In  1833,  Lieutenant  Farragut  was 
appointed  executive  officer  (lieutenant-commander)  of  the  sloop- 
of-war  Natchez,  and  returned  to  the  coast  of  Brazil,  where  he 
remained  about  one  year.  He  was  then  allowed  several  years' 
rest  on  shore,  and,  in  1838,  was  again  transferred  to  the  West 
India  or  Home  Squadron.  In  September,  1841,  he  was  com- 
missioned commander  in  the  navy,  and  ordered  to  the  sloop-of- 
war  Decatur,  again  on  the  Brazilian  station.  Eeceiving,  in 
1842,  three  years'  leave  of  absence,  he  was  ordered,  at  its 
expiration  in  1845,  to  the  Norfolk  Navy  Yard,  and  there 
remained  until  1847,  when  he  took  command  of  the  sloop-of- 
war  Saratoga,  of  the  Home  Squadron.  Assigned  to  duty  again, 
in  the  Norfolk  Navy  Yard,  in  1850,  where  he  was  second  in 
command  to  Commodore  Sloat,  he  was  appointed  assistant 
inspector  of  ordnance  under  Commodore  Skinner  in  1851,  and 
after  three  years'  service  in  that  capacity,  was  ordered,  in  1854, 
to  the  command  of  the  new  Navy  Yard  at  Mare's  Island, 
California.  In  September,  1855,  he  was  promoted  to  be  a 
captain,  and,  in  1858,  was  placed  in  command  of  the  steam 


64  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

sloop-of-war  Brooklyn,  serving  on  the  Home  Squadron,  under 
Commodore  McCluney,  and  from  this  command  he  was  relieved 
in  November,  1860. 

By  this  time,  he  had  spent  about  nineteen  years  afloat, 
eighteen  of  which  had  been  occupied  in  shore  duty,  and  the 
balance  either  in  waiting  orders,  or  on  leave  of  absence.  They 
had  been  years  well  improved  by  him  in  the  augmentation  and 
perfecting  of  his  professional  and  general  knowledge — and  the 
result  is,  that  he  possesses  a  most  thorough  and  practical 
knowledge  of  every  thing  pertaining  to  naval  science  and 
warfare,  while  he  is  superior  to  most  officers  in  the  service,  in 
his  breadth  of  general  culture,  especially  in  the  languages, 
speaking  with  fluency  and  correctness  most  of  the  Continental 
languages,  as  well  as  Arabic  and  Turkish. 

And  now  arose  the  great  War  of  the  Eebellion,  in  which  all 
of  the  experience  and  all  of  the  culture  which  he  had  gathered 
during  these  years,  was  to  be  rendered  available  to  the  interests 
and  the  glory  of  his  country.  He  was  at  that  time  (1861) 
living  at  Norfolk  with  -his  family,  surrounded  by  friends  and 
acquaintances  who  sympathized  with  the  rebellion.  But  his 
loyal  heart  burned  with  a  righteous  indignation  at  the  traitorous 
cabals  and  plottings  going  on  around  him.  "When  told  by 
brother  officers  that  the  State  had  seceded,  and  he  must  either 
resign  or  leave  the  place,  he  needed  no  time  to  decide  upon  his 
course.  "  I  cannot  live  here,  and  will  seek  some  other  place 
where  I  can  live,  and  on  two  hours'  notice,"  was  his  answer. 
And  hastily  collecting  such  few  valuables  as  they  could,  the 
patriot  and  his  family,  on  the  following  morning,  April  18th, 
1861,  left  their  home,  with  difficulty  obtaining  at  Baltimore 
(then  in  the  hands  of  a  mob)  a  passage  by  boat  to  Philadelphia, 
and  thence,  by  railway,  to  New  York.  Securing  a  residence 
for  his  family  at  Hastings,  on  the  Hudson,  he  immediately 


DAVID    GLA3COE   FARRAGUT.  65 

proceeded  to  Washington  and  placed  his  services  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Navy  Department.  Treason,  however,  had 
well  nigh  stripped  the  Government  of  vessels,  by  sending  them 
to  distant  ports,  while  the  few  which  were  at  its  disposal  were 
already  in  command  of  his  seniors  in  the  service — so  that  the 
only  employment  which  could  be  afforded  him  was  as  a  member 
of  the  JSTaval  Eetiring  Board,  which  was  busily  employed  in 
expelling  the  incompetent,  and  in  promoting  the  active,  loyal 
and  deserving  officers  of  the  navy. 

Government,  meanwhile,  had  resolved  that  an  attempt  should 
be  made  to  capture  New  Orleans,  and  was  pushing  forward, 
with  might  and  main,  the  fitting  out  of  a  squadron,  as  well  as 
of  an  army  for  its  reduction.  The  naval  force  which  they 
prepared  for  this  undertaking,  consisted  of  forty-six  vessels  of 
all  kinds,  of  which  fifteen  were  armed  steamers,  and  twenty- 
one  were  bomb-schooners,  each  carrying  gigantic  mortars, 
throwing  fifteen  inch  shells — while  the  total  armament  of  the 
fleet  was  two  hundred  and  eighty-six  guns.  The  bomb-fleet 
was  under  command  of  Commander  .David  D.  Porter,  while 
Farragut  had  charge  of  the  entire  squadron.  Sailing  in  the 
Hartford,  as  his  flag-ship,  from  Hampton  Koads,  on  the  3d  of 
February,  1862,  he  arrived  at  Ship  Island  on  the  20th,  and 
immediately  commenced  the  organization  of  the  West  Gulf 
Blockading  Squadron.  Making  steady  progress,  in  spite  of 
delays  in  the  forwarding  of  coal,  naval  stores,  hospital  stores, 
munitions  of  war,  etc.;  the  difficulty  of  getting  vessels  of 
twenty-two  feet  draught  over  the  bars  where  the  depth  was 
only  twelve  and  fifteen  feet ;  the  obstinacy  of  some  officers,  and 
the  ignorance  of  others;  lie  finally  surmounted  all  obstacles 
by  the  18th  of  April,  and  commenced  the  bombardment  of 
Fort  Jackson,  the  lower  one  of  two  forts  which  defended  the 

passage  of  the  Mississippi,  seventy-five  miles  below  the  city  of 
5 


66  MEN    OF    OUR    DAY. 

New  Orleans.  Across  the  river,  and  supported  by  huge  logs, 
was  stretched  a  heavy  iron  chain,  located  at  a  point  where  the 
fire  from  the  two  forts  could  be  most  effectively  concentrated. 
Above  this  formidable  obstruction,  lay  the  Confederate  fleet 
of  sixteen  gunboats  and  two  iron-clad  rams ;  while  along  the 
banks  of  the  river  were  land  batteries  of  considerable  strength. 
Six  days'  continuous  bombardment  of  the  forts,  damaged  them 
considerably,  but  their  flags  still  floated  in  triumphant  defiance. 
A  council  of  war  was  called  on  board  the  flag-ship,  and  after 
listening  to  and  carefully  weighing  the  somewhat  various 
opinions  of  his  subordinates,  Farragut  announced  his  own  in 
the  following  language  (general  order  of  April  20th) :  "  The 
flag-officer  having  heard  all  the  opinions  expressed  by  the 
different  commanders,  is  of  the  opinion  that  whatever  is  to  be 
done,  will  have  to  be  done  quickly.  When,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
flag- officer,  the  propitious  time  has  arrived,  the  signal  will  be 

made  to  weigh  and  advance  to  the  conflict He  will 

make  signal  for  close  action,  and  abide  the  result — conquer,  or  be 
conquered" 

The  plan  which  the  heroic  commander  had  decided  upon  in 
his  own  mind,  was  to  break  the  chain  by  main  force,  run  past 
the  forts,  engage  and  rout  the  rebel  fleet  and  ascend  the  river  to 
New  Orleans,  which  would  then  be  completely  at  his  mercy.  It 
was  an  extremely  bold  and  hazardous  movement — for  his  vessels 
would  be  exposed  to  the  converging  fire  of  the  forts  until  the 
chain  was  severed,  and  would  then  have  to  risk  the  chances  of 
a  battle  with  a  fleet  nearly  equal  in  numbers,  and  of  which 
two  were  iron-clad.  Farragut,  however,  is  one  who  dares 
more  than  most  men,  and  who  believes  that  a  determination  to 
succeed  is,  together  with  cool  courage  and  prompt  action,  the 
main  element  of  success.  Accordingly,  issuing  orders  to  start 
at  two  A.  M.  on  April  24th,  he  visited  each  ship,  personally 


DAVID  GLASCOE  FARRAG-UT.  67 

superintending  the  adoption  of  requisite  measures  for  preserva- 
tion of  life,  and  of  trie  vessels,  and  instructing  his  officers  as  to 
the  mode  of  the  proposed  attack.  Many  and  ingenious  were  the 
devices  adopted  for  the  protection  of  the  ships  and  machinery. 
The  sheet  cables  were  stopped  up  and  down  along  the  sides  of 
the  vessels,  in  the  line  of  the  engines — forming  an  almost 
impenetrable  armor  over  this  vulnerable  part ;  hammocks,  coal, 
bags  of  ashes  or  of  sand,  etc.,  were  so  disposed  as  to  ward  off, 
or  break  the  force  of  shots  coming  in  forward  or  abaft;  the 
bulwarks  were  lined  with  hammocks  or  splinter  nettings ;  the 
sides  of  some  of  the  vessels  were  coated  with  mud  to  make 
them  less  visible,  while  others  had  their  decks  whitewashed  in 
order  to  render  objects  more  easily  distinguishable  by  night.  At 
the  appointed  time,  the  movement  commenced — the  chain  had 
been  previously  broken,  and  the  mortar  boats  moved  up  and 
anchored  in  such  a  position  that  they  could  pour  in  their  shot 
as  soon  as  the  forts  opened  fire.  The  fleet  of  steam  ships 
moved  up  to  the  attack  in  two  columns.  The  left  column, 
commanded  by  Farragut,  and  composed  of  the  flag-ship  Hart- 
ford, Brooklyn,  Eichmond,  Sciota,  Iroquois,  Kennebec,  Pinola, 
Itasca,  and  "Winona,  was  to  engage  Fort  St.  Philip.  The  other 
column,  led  by  Captain  Theodoras  Bailey  in  the  Cayuga,  with  the 
Pensacola,  Mississippi,  Oneida,  Yaruna,  Katahdin,  Kineo,  and 
Wissahickon,  was  to  attack  Fort  Jackson.  Passing  steadily 
along,  the  fleet  was  abreast  of  the  forts  before  they  were  dis- 
covered, but  then  came  a  storm  of  converging  fire  upon  them. 
Dense  smoke  settled  down  upon  the  scene,  and  the  combatants, 
fighting  in  utter  darkness,  could  only  aim  by  the  flash  of  each 
other's  guns.  The  flag-ship,  Hartford,  assailed  by  a  fire-raft, 
which  was  pushed  against  it  by  the  rebel  ram  Mauassas,  caught 
fire,  and,  at  the  same  moment,  ran  aground ;  but,  owing  to  the 
promptness  and  discipline  of  its  crew,  it  speedily  surmounted 


68  MEN    OF    OUE    DAT. 

both  dangers,  and  never  slackened  its  fire  upon  the  enemy, 
Sweeping  close  to  the  forts,  the  gunboats  frequently  threw  into 
them  a  terribly  destructive  fire  of  shrapnel,  grape,  and  canister ; 
while  the  forts  were  unable  to  depress  their  guns  sufficiently  to 
reach  their  lively  and  daring  assailants.  Then,  as  the  Union 
fleet  had  nearly  passed  the  forts,  came  the  terrible  shock  of  the 
rebel  fleet,  several  of  which  were  iron-beaked.  The  brunt  of  this 
collision  was  borne  by  the  left  column  of  boats,  under  Captain 
Bailey.  For  a  while  it  was  a  terrible,  "pell  mell"  fight. 
Several  of  the  Union  vessels  were  disabled,  and  the  Varuna 
crushed  by  two  rebel  iron-prowed  gunboats  (which,  however, 
she  crippled  and  set  in  flames),  sank — her  guns  playing  upon 
her  foes  to  the  very  last  moment.  But  the  stout  hearts  had 
triumphed.  Thirteen  of  Farragut's  squadron  passed  the  forts, 
destroyed  an  equal  number  of  their  gunboats  and  rams,  as  well 
as  the  iron-clad  Manassas,  and  compelled  the  others  to  seek 
safety  in  flight.  All  this,  too,  with  a  loss  of  only  thirty-six 
killed,  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  wounded. 

Ascending  the  river,  the  now  victorious  Union  squadron  ar- 
rived, by  noon  of  the  25th,  in  front  of  the  city,  and  demanded 
its  surrender.  Four  days  later,  the  now  useless  forts  which 
they  had  passed,  were  surrendered  to  Captain  Porter,  of  the 
bomb-fleet,  and  General  Butler  came  up  the  river  to  arrange  for 
landing  his  co-operating  troops  and  taking  possession  of  the 
city,  which  had  surrendered  on  the  28th.  Farragut,  mean- 
while, destroyed  some  strong  fortifications  which  had  been 
erected  at  Carrollton,  above  the  city,  with  a  view  to  oppose  the 
progress  of  Commodore  Foote,  down  the  river.  Having  thus 
seen  New  Orleans  in  the  full  possession  of  the  Union  army, 
Flag  Officer  Farragut  ascended  the  Mississippi,  and  ran  his 
squadron  past  the  rebel  batteries  at  Vicksburg,  and  communi- 
cated with  Flag  Officer  Davis,  then  commanding  the  Mississippi 


DAVID   GLA3COE   FARRAGCT.  69 

Squadron,  with  whom  he  arranged  for  a  joint  attack  upon  the 
city.  The  attack  failed,  because  the  high  bluffs  on  which 
Yicksburg  is  located  were  found  to  be  too  high  to  permit  of 
bombardment  by  the  gunboats,  and  because  the  co-operation  of 
a  land  force  was  needed.  Ee-passing  the  batteries  therefore,  on 
the  loth  of  July,  he  established  the  headquarters  of  his  squad- 
ron at  Pensacola ;  and,  while  there,  received  the  thanks  of  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  together  with  the  rank  of  rear-admiral — 
a  grade  then  (July  11,  1862)  for  the  first  time  created  and  recog- 
nized in  the  naval  service  of  the  United  States.  In  the  autumn 
of  1862  he  directed  the  naval  attacks  on  Corpus  Christi,  Sabine 
Pass  and  Galveston,  which  resulted  in  their  capture ;  the 
winter  of  1862-63  was  occupied  in  blockade  service,  routing 
guerillas  along  the  river  shores,  expeditions  against  rebel  towns 
on  or  near  the  coast,  etc.,  etc.  In  the  early  part  of  March,  1863, 
General  Grant  being  then  engaged  in  his  campaign  against  Vicks- 
burg,  requested  Farragut  to  aid  him  by  assaulting  that  city 
from  below,  and  that  Porter's  squadron  should  run  the  batteries 
at  Vicksburg,  and  assist  in  the  same  undertaking.  His  own 
troops  he  intended  to  send  down  the  west  bank  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Promptly  responding  to  General  Grant's  wish,  Admiral 
Farragut  selected  for  the  purpose  eight  of  his  best  and  strong- 
est vessels,  the  Hartford,  Richmond,  Mississippi,  Monongahela, 
Kineo,  Albatross,  and  Genessee,  the  three  last  named  being 
gunboats,  which  were  properly  strengthened  for  the  encounter. 
Six  mortar-boats  were  also  detailed  to  take  part  in  the 
bombardment,  though  not  to  run  past  the  batteries — which 
were  at  Port  Hudson,  and  constituted  the  most  formidable  line 
of  fortifications  on  the  river,  except  those  of  Vicksburg  itself, 
two  hundred  and  thirty-two  miles  above.  The  fleet  anchored, 
March  14th,  1863,  near  Prophet's  Island,  and  the  day  was 
spent,  by  the  mortar  boats,  in  bombarding  the  lower  batteries, 


70  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

and  in  making  a  feint  of  attack  on  the  rear  of  the  town  by  a 
small  land  force.  The  steam  vessels  took  no  part  in  this,  but 
at  half  past  nine  P.  M.,  with  their  lights  out,  and  decks  white- 
washed, to  enable  the  men  to  see  the  shot  and  shell  which  were 
piled  upon  the  decks,  they  slipped  quietly  from  their  moorings, 
and  moved  up  the  river,  lashed  together  in  pairs,  and  closely 
hugging  the  eastern  bank.  Cautious  as  were  their  movements, 
they  were  discovered  and  signalled ;  and  in  response  an  immense 
bonfire  was  speedily  kindled  by  the  rebels,  which  lighted  up  the 
river  directly  in  front  of  the  strongest  rebel  battery,  in  such  a 
way  that  no  vessel  could  pass  unseen.  As  the  flag-ship  and 
her  consort  swept  within  the  illuminated  space,  the  rebel  fire 
commenced  with  terrific  fury,  and  from  the  batteries,  extending 
nearly  four  miles,  tier  above  tier  on  the  high  bluffs,  rattled  a 
storm  of  iron  shot,  to  which  the  Union  vessels  and  the  mortar 
boats  briskly  responded.  And  over  all,  as  at  New  Orleans,  the 
smoke  of  battle  settling  down  upon  the  river,  bewildered  both 
gunners  and  pilots.  Still  the  brave  admiral  and  his  heroic 
followers  pressed  steadily  on;  until  a  curve  of  the  river 
throwing  its  channel  over  close  to  the  eastern  bank,  brought 
the  floating  column  almost  muzzle  to  muzzle  with  the  water 
batteries  along  the  banks.  The  Hartford  and  Albatross,  lashed 
together,  passed  unharmed ;  the  Richmond  and  Genessee  were 
disabled  by  a  shot  in  the  steam-chest  of  the  former,  and  fell 
back ;  the  Monongahela  ran  aground,  and  was  under  fire  for 
twenty-five  minutes,  before  her  consort,  the  Kineo,  could  get 
her  afloat,  and  was  also  placed  hors  du  combat,  and  obliged  to 
drop  down  the  river,  while  the  Mississippi  unfortunately 
grounded  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  directly  under  the  con 
centrated  fire  of  the  entire  rebel  batteries,  took  fire  and  (de- 
serted by  her  gallant  crew)  floated  down  the  river  and  blew  up. 
The  Hartford  and  Albatross,  therefore,  which  were  the  only 


DAVID   GLASCOE   FARRAGUT.  71 

vessels  which  succeeded  in  passing  the  terrible  ordeal,  blockaded 
the  mouth  of  the  Bed  Eiver,  and  cut  off  an  important  channel 
of  supplies  to  Yicksburg ;  and,  in  May,  having  been  relieved 
by  Admiral  Porter,  a  part  of  whose  squadron  had  run  the 
Vicksburg  batteries,  Farragut  returned  to  New  Orleans,  via 
the  Atchafalaya,  and  directed  the  naval  operations  against  Port 
Hudson  until  its  surrender. 

The  admiral  had  long  been  anxious  to  attack  and  subdue  the 
strong  forts,  three  in  number,  which  defended  the  entrance  to 
Mobile  Bay,  and  under  the  cover  of  whose  guns,  an  immense 
amount  of  blockade  running  was  successfully  carried  on.  But 
although  often  proposed,  it  was  not  until  August,  1864,  that 
the  project  could  be  carried  into  effect.  Then,  a  combined 
attack  of  land  and  sea  forces  was  arranged  between  Farragut 
and  Generals  Canby  and  Granger  of  the  army.  In  pursuance 
of  this  plan,  troops  were  landed  on  Dauphin  Island,  and  in  the 
early  dawn  of  the  5th  of  August,  the  fleet  moved  forward  to  a 
combat  which  proved  to  be  more  destructive  and  more  novel, 
in  some  of  its  aspects,  than  any  naval  battle  upon  this  continent. 
Fourteen  sloops  of  war  and  gunboats  and  four  iron-clad  moni- 
tors were  arranged  by  the  admiral,  in  the  following  order  of 
attack :  the  Brooklyn  and  the  Octorara  were  lashed  together, 
the  Brooklyn  (which,  much  against  his  wishes,  was  allowed  the 
lead)  being  on  the  starboard  side,  nearest  to  Fort  Morgan ;  next, 
the  Hartford  and  Metacomet ;  then,  the  Eichmond  and  Port 
Eoyal ;  the  Lacka wanna  and  Seminole ;  the  Monongahela  and 
Kennebec ;  the  Ossipee  and  Itasca,  and  the  Oneida  and  Galena. 
On  the  right  or  starboard  of  the  gunboats,  were  arranged  the 
monitors,  the  Tecumseh  (Commander  Craven)  in  the  lead ;  the 
Manhattan  (Commander  Nicholson),  the  Winnebago  (Comman- 
der Stevens),  and  the  Chickasaw  (Lieutenant  Commander  Per- 
kins). With  this  force  he  prepared  to  engage  the  three  forts, 


72  MEX   OF   OUR   DAY. 

all  well  garrisoned,  and  supported  by  three  powerful  gunboats 
(the  Selma,  Morgan,  and  Gaines)  and  the  iron -clad  steam  ram, 
Tennessee,  which  the  rebels  considered  the  most  formidable 
armored  vessel  ever  constructed  by  them. 

Steaming  steadily  up  the  channel,  the  Tecumseh,  at  6:47, 
A.  M.,  fired  the  first  shot,  Fort  Morgan  soon  replied,  the  Brooklyn 
then  replied,  and  the  action  became  general.  Suddenly,  the 
Tecumseh  struck  a  torpedo,  careened  and  sank  almost  instantly, 
carrying  down  with  her,  her  gallant  commander,  and  most  of 
the  crew.  Sending  what  aid  he  could  to  the  few  who  yet 
struggled  amid  the  waves,  the  admiral  took  the  lead  in  his 
own  flag-ship,  the  Hartford,  steaming  off  in  a  track  which  had 
been  well  lined  by  the  rebels  with  torpedoes,  but  which  he 
determined  to  take  the  risk  of,  on  the  probability,  as  he  says,  of 
their  being  innocuous  by  reason  of  having  been  some  time 
immersed  in  the  water.  By  careful  manceuvering,  the  fleet 
were  enabled  to  clear  the  middle  ground,  and  to  keep  up  a 
pretty  effectual  silencing  fire  on  Fort  Morgan.  At  about  8  A.  M., 
just  as  they  had  passed  the  fort,  the  Hartford  was  threatened 
by  the  rani  Tennessee,  and  the  rebel  gunboats  ahead  so 
annoyed  the  Union  vessels  by  a  raking  fire,  that  the  admiral 
detached  the  Metacomet  and  Octorara  in  pursuit  of  them ;  ancj 
one,  the  Selrna,  was  captured,  while  the  two  others  took  refuge 
under  the  guns  of  the  fort;  one,  the  Gaines,  being  hopelessljr 
damaged.  The  remainder  of  this  combat  between  the  iron- 
clad monster,  the  Tennessee,  and  the  Union  fleet,  cannot  be 
more  graphically  described  than  in  the  words  of  the  admiral's 
own  report. 

"  Having  passed  the  forts  and  dispersed  the  enemy's  gun- 
boats, I  had  ordered  most  of  the  vessels  to  anchor,  when  I 
perceived  the  ram  Tennessee  standing  up  for  this  ship.  This 
was  at  forty-five  minutes  past  eight.  I  was  not  long  in  com- 


DAVID   GLASCOE   FARRAGUT.  73 

prehencling  his  intentions  to  be  the  destruction  of  the  flag-ship. 
The  monitors  and  such  of  the  wooden  vessels  as  I  thought  best 
adapted  for  the  purpose,  were  immediately  ordered  to  attack 
the  ram,  not  only  with  their  guns,  but  bows  on  at  full  speed ;  and 
then  began  one  of  the  fiercest  naval  combats  on  record.  "  The 
Monongahela,  Commander  Strong,  was  the  first  vessel  that 
struck  her,  and  in  doing  so,  carried  away  her  own  iron  prow, 
together  with  the  cutwater,  without  apparently  doing  her 
adversary  much  injury.  The  Lacka wanna,  Captain  Marchand, 
was  the  next  vessel  to  strike  her,  which  she  did  at  full  speed ; 
but  though  her  stem  was  cut  and  crushed  to  the  plank-ends, 
for  the  distance  of  three  feet  above  the  water's  edge  and  five  feet 
below,  the  only  perceptible  effect  on  the  ram  was  to  give  her 
a  heavy  list.  The  Hartford  was  the  third  vessel  that  struck 
her ;  but,  as  the  Tennessee  quickly  shifted  her  helm,  the  blow 
was  a  glancing  one,  and,  as  she  rasped  along  our  side,  we  poured 
our  whole  port  broadside  of  nine-inch  solid  shot  within  ten  feet 
of  her  casement.  The  monitors  worked  slowly,  but  delivered 
their  fire  as  opportunity  offered.  The  Chickasaw  succeeded  in 
getting  under  her  stern  and  a  fifteen-inch  shot  from  the 
Manhattan  broke  through  her  iron  plating  and  heavy  wooden 
packing ;  though  the  missile  itself  did  not  enter  the  vessel. 
Immediately  after  the  collision  with  the  flag-ship,  I  directed 
Captain  Drayton  to  bear  down  on  the  ram  again.  He  was 
doing  so  at  full  speed,  when  unfortunately,  the  Lackawanna 
ran  into  the  Hartford  just  forward  of  the  mizzen-mast,  cutting 
her  down  to  within  two  feet  of  the  water's  edge.  We  soon  got 
clear  again,  however,  and  were  fast  approaching  our  adversary 
when  she  struck  her  colors  and  ran  up  the  white  flag. 

She  was  at  this  time  sore  beset ;  the  Chickasaw  was  pounding 
away  at  her  stern,  the  Ossipee  was  approaching  her  at  full 
speed,  and  the  Monongahela,  Lackawanna,  and  this  ship,  were 


74  MEN    OF    OUR   DAY. 

bearing  down  upon  her,  determined  upon  her  destruction.  Her 
smoke-stack  had  been  shot  away,  her  steering-chains  were  gone, 
compelling  a  resort  to  her  relieving-tackles,  and  several  of  her 
port-shutters  were  jammed.  Indeed,  from  the  time  the  Hart- 
ford struck  her,  until  her  surrender,  she  never  fired  a  gun.  As 
the  Ossipee,  Commander  Le  Roy,  was  about  to  strike  her,  she 
hoisted  the  white  flag,  and  that  vessel  immediately  stopped  her 
engine,  though  not  in  time  to  avoid  a  glancing  blow.  During 
this  contest  with  the  rebel  gunboats  and  the  ram  Tennessee, 
and  which  terminated  by  her  surrender  at  10  o'clock,  we  lost 
many  more  men  than  from  the  fire  of  the  batteries  of  Fort 
Morgan." 

During  the  engagement,  the  admiral  had  lashed  himself  in 
a  perilous  position  in  the  main  rigging,  near  the  top — from 
which  he  could  see,  much  more  easily  than  from  the  deck,  the 
progress  of  the  fight ;  and,  it  is  said,  that,  at  the  moment  of  the 
collision  between  the  Hartford  and  the  Lackawanna,  when  the 
men  all  cried  to  each  other,  to  "  save  the  admiral,"  he  in  the 
maintop,  finding  that  the  ship  would  float  at  least  long  enough 
to  serve  his  purpose,  and  intent  only  on  that,  called  out  to  his 
fleet-captain,  "  Go  on  with  speed !  Ram  her  again !" 

Yet  amid  this  perilous  excitement,  he  forgot  not  to  notice  the 
admirable  conduct  of  the  men  at  their  guns,  throughout  the 
fleet,  and,  in  a  manner  tender  and  sympathetic,  alludes  to  their 
heroism,  in  his  report,  as  follows : — "Although  no  doubt  their 
hearts  sickened  as  mine  did,  when  their  shipmates  were  struck 
down  beside  them,  yet  there  was  not  a  moment's  hesitation  to 
lay  their  comrades  aside  and  spring  again  to  their  deadly 
work."  Humane  in  feeling  as  he  is  gallant  in  action,  Farragut, 
learning  that  his  vanquished  rival,  the  rebel  Admiral  Buchanan 
was  severely  wounded — (he  subsequently  lost  a  leg  by  amputa- 
tion)— promptly  requested  permission  of  the  commandant  of 


DAVID   GLASCOE   FARRAGUT.  75 

Fort  Morgan,  to  send  the  admiral  and  the  other  wounded  rebel 
officers,  under  flag  of  truce,  to  the  Union  hospitals  at  Pensacola. 
The  request  was  granted,  and  a  vessel  was  detailed  for  their 
conveyance.  By  this  victory  were  secured  the  entire  destruc- 
tion of  the  rebel  fleet,  the  capture  of  the  armored  ship  Tennes- 
see, and  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  rebel  officers  and  men ;  the 
abandonment,  on  the  day  following,  of  Fort  Powell,  with  eigh- 
teen guns;  the  subseqi^nt  surrender  of  Fort  Gaines,  with  fifty- 
six  officers,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen  men,  and 
twenty-six  guns ;  and  (after  a  twenty-four  hour  bombardment) 
of  Fort  Morgan  with  sixty  guns,  and  six  hundred  prisoners — • 
and  the  hermetical  sealing  up  of  the  port  of  Mobile  against 
blockade-runners,  in  itself  a  most  serious  blow  to  the  Confeder- 
ate cause. 

Remaining  in  command  of  the  "West  Gulf  Squadron,  till 
November,  1864,  he  requested  leave  of  absence,  and  was  called 
to  Washington  for  consultation  in  regard  to  future  naval  move- 
ments. A  resolution  of  thanks  to  him,  for  his  magnificent 
services,  was  passed  by  Congress,  and  the  rank  of  vice-admiral 
(corresponding  to  that  of  lieutenant-general  in  the  army)  was 
created  for  him — thus  making  him  virtually  the  chief  comman- 
der of  the  naval  forces  of  the  United  States.  In  July  1866,  the 
rank  of  admiral  was  created  by  Congress,  and  he  was  promoted 
to  this,  and  Rear- Admiral  Porter  made  vice-admiral. 

During  the  time  he  was  in  command  of  the  West  Gulf  squad- 
ron, it  had  more  fighting  and  less  prizes  than  fell  to  the  share 
of  any  other  blockading  squadron  on  the  coast,  and  while  the 
admirals  of  the  other  fleets  had  acquired  large  fortunes  from  prize- 
money,  Farragut  had  received  little  beyond  his  regular  pay. 
In  view  of  this  fact,  the  merchants  of  New  York  subscribed  the 
sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars,  which  was  presented  to  him  in 
United  States  7.30  Treasury  notes,  in  January,  1865,  in  testi- 


76  MEN    OF    OUR    DAY. 

mony  of  their  appreciation  of  his  ability  as  a  naval  commander, 
and  of  the  great  services  which  he  had  conferred  upon  com- 
merce and  the  nation. 

In  April,  1865,  Vice- Admiral  Farragut  revisited  Norfolk  for 
the  first  time  since  he  had  left  it  in  1861,  and  \vas  received 
with  an  address  of  welcome  from  a  committee  of  the  Loyal 
League  of  that  city.  In  his  reply  to  their  congratulations  he 
made  the  following  pertinent  remarks  concerning  his  own  share 
in  the  rebellion  just  closed,  "I  was  unwilling  to  believe  that 
this  difficulty  would  not  have  been  settled;  but  it  was  all  in 
vain,  and,  as  every  man  must  do  in  a  revolution,  as  he  puts  his 
foot  down,  so  it  marks  his  life ;  so  it  has  pleased  God  to  protect 
me  thus  far,  and  make  me  somewhat  instrumental  in  dealing 
heavy  blows  at  the  rebellion.  I  have  been  nothing  more  than 
an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God,  well  supported  by  my 
officers  and  men,  who  have  done  their  duty  faithfully." 

In  the  spring  of  1867,  Admiral  Farragut,  still  desirous  of  sea 
service,  joined  the  Mediterranean  Squadron,  and  has  been  for 
nearly  a  year  in  European  waters,  everywhere  received  with 
the  highest  honors,  and  everywhere  noticeable  for  his  modesty, 
his  patriotism,  and  his  zeal  for  his  country's  honor  and  pros- 
perity. 

After  all  the  vicissitudes  of  so  remarkable  a  life,  forty  years  of 
which  have  been  spent  afloat,  Admiral  Farragut  is  as  vigorous 
in  body,  clear  of  head,  and  strong  of  purpose,  as  in  his  earlier 
days.  In  his  nature,  gentleness  of  temper  is  allied  with  a  bravery 
that  disdains  all  obstacles,  impatience  of  delay,  and  disregard  of 
danger ;  vivacity  of  manner  with  extreme  frankness  and  good 
humor ;  a  high-toned  honesty  of  life  with  devotion  to  duty,  and 
a  broad  general  education  with  the  most  minute  acquaintance 
of  every  detail  of  thorough  seamanship.  He  has  accomplished 
results  which,  in  the  words  of  the  English  Army  and  Navy 


DAVID   GLASCOE    FARRAGUT.  77 

Gazette  (not  over-favorable  to  any  thing  American),  "  place  him 
at  the  head  of  his  profession,  and  certainly  constitute  him  the 
first  naval  officer  of  the  day,"  and  he  has  accomplished  them 
by  force  of  a  will  which  never  admits  the  possibility  of  defeat.  "  I 
did  not  expect  to  succeed,"  said  the  gallant  Commodore  Dupont, 
to  him,  when  relating  the  many  obstacles  and  difficulties  which 
opposed  his  excellent  but  unsuccessful  attack,  with  the  moni 
tors,  on  Fort  Sumter.  "  That  is  the  very  reason  you  did  not 
succeed,"  was  Farragut's  characteristic  reply. 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH    SHERMAN. 


JILLIAM  TECUMSEH  SHEEMAN,  son  of  Hon. 
Charles  E.  Sherman,  for  some  years  a  judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  and  a  brother  of  Hon. 
John  Sherman,  the  well  known  United  States  Sena- 
tor from  that  State,  was  born  in  Lancaster,  Ohio,  on  the  8th  of 
February,  1820.  His  early  education  was  obtained  in  the 
'schools  of  his  native  town,  but  after  his  father's  death,  whicn 
occurred  when  he  was  nine  years  of  age,  he  became  a  member 
of  the  family  of  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  where  he  enjoyed  still 
wider  advantages ;  and,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  entered  the  United 
States  Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  Graduating  from  that 
institution,  June  30th,  1840,  with  the  sixth  rank  of  his  class, 
he  was  immediately  appointed  to  a  second  lieutenancy  in  the 
Third  Artillery,  and  served  through  the  next  year  in  Florida, 
achieving  some  distinction  by  the  masterly  manner  in  which  he 
foiled  certain  maneuvers  of  the  -wily  Indian  chief  "  Billy  Bow- 
legs."  In  November,  1841,  Sherman  was  made  a  first  lieuten- 
ant, and,  shortly  after,  was  ordered  to  Fort  Moultrie,  Charleston 
harbor,  where  he  remained  several  years,  forming  intimacies 
with  eminent  citizens  of  South  Carolina,  which  it  required  all 
his  firmness  and  patriotism  in  after  years  to  abandon.  In  1846 
he  was  transferred  to  California  and  made  assistant  adjutant 

general,  performing  his  duties  with  such  marked  ability,  that 
78 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH   SHEKMAN.  79 

Congress,  in  1851,  made  him  captain,  by  brevet,  dating  from 
May  30th,  1848,  "  for  meritorious  services  in  California,  during 
the  war  with  Mexico."  In  September,  1850,  he  was  appointed 
Commissary  of  Subsistence,  with  rank  of  captain,  and  assigned 
to  the  staff  of  the  commander  of  the  Department  of  the  West, 
with  headquarters  at  St.  Louis.  During  the  same  year  he  mar- 
ried the  daughter  of  his  old  friend,  Hon.  Thomas  Swing,  and 
was  soon  after  stationed  at  New  Orleans,  where  he  became  well 
acquainted  with  the  leading  men  of  Louisiana.  In  September, 
1853,  he  resigned  his  commission  in  the  army,  and  was,  for 
four  years  ensuing,  the  manager  of  the  banking  house  of  Lucas, 
Turner  &  Co.,  of  San  Francisco,  California.  In  1857,  his  ser- 
vices were  solicited  and  secured,  by  some  of  his  old  Louisiana 
friends,  as  the  President  and  Superintendent  of  a  State  Military 
Academy,  which  they  were  then  establishing,  and  he  assumed 
his  position  early  in  1858.  The  objects  and  inducements 
alleged  for  the  creation  of  such  an  institution  were,  of  them- 
selves, reasonable  and  plausible ;  and  it  was  not  until  after  the 
commencement  of  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1860,  that  he 
became  aware  of  the  disloyal  sentiments  existing  among  the 
majority  of  the  leading  men  of  the  State,  or  of  the  real  and 
treasonable  purposes  which  had  influenced  them  in  founding 
the  academy  over  which  he  presided.  Simultaneously  with  the 
unavoidable  unmasking  of  their  plans,  these  men  now  strove, 
by  every  persuasive  art,  to  induce  him  to  join  with  them  in 
their  revolutionary  projects.  But  the  solicitations  of  friendship, 
the  proffer  of  gold,  and  the  tender  of  high  official  position,  failed 
to  shake,  even  for  a  moment,  the  sterling.loyalty  of  the  soldier. 
Amazed  at  the  revelation,  and  convinced  that  civil  war  was 
inevitable,  he  promptly  sent  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  th6 
following  letter  of  resignation : — 


80  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

JANUARY  18,  1861. 

Gov.  THOMAS  O.  MOORE,  Baton  Rouge,  La. 

SIR  : — As  I  occupy  a  jwasi-military  position  under  this  State, 
I  deem  it  proper  to  acquaint  you  that  I  accepted  such  position 
when  Louisiana  was  a  State  in  the  Union,  and  when  the  motto 
of  the  seminary  was  inserted  in  marble  over  the  main  door, 
"  By  the  liberality  of  the  General  Government  of  the  United  States. 
The  Union,  Esto  Perpetual  Eecent  events  foreshadow  a  great 
change,  and  it  becomes  all  men  to  choose.  If  Louisiana  with- 
draws from  the  Federal  Union,  /  prefer  to  maintain  my  alle- 
giance to  the  Old  Constitution  as  long  as  a  fragment  of  it  sur- 
vives, and  my  longer  stay  here  would  be  wrong  in  every  sense  of 
the  word.  In  that  event,  I  beg  you  will  send  or  appoint  some 
authorized  agent  to  take  charge  of  the  arms  and  munitions  of 
war  here  belonging  to  the  State,  or  direct  me  what  disposition 
should  be  made  of  them.  And  furthermore,  as  President  of  the 
Board  of  Supervisors,  I  beg  you  to  take  immediate  steps  to 
relieve  me  as  Superintendent,  the  moment  the  State  determines 
to  secede ;  for,  on  no  earthly  account  will  I  do  any  act  or  think 
any  thought,  hostile  to,  or  in  defiance  of,  the  old  Government  of 
the  United  States. 

With  great  respect,  &c., 
(Signed)  W.  T.  SHERMAN. 

His  resignation  was  accepted  with  regret,  by  those  who 
knew  his  worth  as  a  man  and  his  value  as  a  soldier,  and  an  in- 
structor of  soldiers;  and,  in  February,  he  removed  with  his 
family  to  St.  Louis.  Shortly  before  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter 
he  visited  Washington,  and,  conversant  as  he  was  with  the 
intentions  and  plans  of  the  Southern  leaders — he  was  amazed 
at  the  apathy  and  incredulity  of  the  Government,  who,  as  he 
said,  "  were  sleeping  on  a  volcano,  which  would  surely  burst 
upon  them  unprepared."  Urging  upon  government  officials 
the  imminency  of  the  impending  danger  and  the  fearful  lack  of 
preparation  to  meet  it,  he  also  proffered  his  services  as  a  sol- 
dier who  had  been  educated  at  the  country's  expense  and 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH   SHEKMAN.  81 

who  owed  every  thing  to  her  care  and  institutions.  But  the 
threatened  storm  was  generally  regarded,  by  those  in  authority, 
as  a  matter  which  would  ^blow  over"  in  sixty,  or,  at  the  most 
in  ninety  days,  and  he  could  find  no  one  to  comprehend  or 
indorse  his  views  in  regard  to  the  necessity  of  immediately  call- 
ing  out  an  immense  army  for  the  war.  Upon  the  organization, 
however,  of  the  new  regiments  of  the  regular  army,  in  June, 
1861,  he  was  made  colonel  of  the  new  13th  infantry,  his  com 
mission  dating  from  May  14th,  1861.  His  first  actual  service 
in  the  war  was  at  the  battle  of  Bull  Eun,  or  Manassas,  where  he 
commanded  the  Third  Brigade  in  the  First  (Tyler's)  Division. 
The  spirited  manner  in  which  he  handled  his  men  was  in  strong 
contrast  to  the  many  disgraceful  scenes  which  have  made  that 
day  one  of  ignoble  memories.  The  vigor  and  desperate  valor, 
indeed,  with  which  Sherman  fought  his  brigade  on  that  occasion, 
is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  its  losses  were  far  heavier  than 
any  other  brigade  in  the  Union  army ;  his  total  of  killed, 
wounded  and  missing,  being  six  hundred  and  nine,  while  that 
of  the  whole  division  was  but  eight  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  and 
of  the  entire  army,  aside  from  prisoners  and  stragglers,  but  fif- 
teen hundred  and  ninety.  His  valor  and  good  conduct  were 
promptly  rewarded  by  his  appointment  as  a  brigadier-general 
of  volunteers,  his  commission  dating  from  May  17th,  1861 ; 
and,  early  in  August,  he  was  made  second  in  command  of  the 
Department  of  the  Ohio,  under  General  Anderson.  On  the  8th 
of  October  he  was  appointed  to  the  chief  command,  in  place  of 
that  general,  who  had  been  obliged  to  resign  on  account  of  ill 
health.  The  Department  of  the  Ohio,  which,  at  this  time,  com- 
prised all  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  west  of  the  Alleghanies, 
was  in  a  deplorable  condition ;  paucity  of  troops ;  insufficiency 
of  supplies  and  munitions  of  war ;  a  surrounding  country,  luke- 
warm, if  not  openly  inimical  to  the  Union  cause,  and  the  close 


82  MEN    OF    OUR   DAY. 

proximity  of  large,  well  equipped  and  well  officered  forces  of 
the  enemy  (who,  if  they  had  known  has  real  condition,  could 
have  driven  him  "  out  of  his  boots"  in  ten  days)  rendered  Sher- 
man's situation  a  most  unenviable  one.  In  addition  to  the 
pressure  of  these  unfavorable  circumstances,  he  now  found  him- 
self annoyed  and  seriously  endangered  by  the  presence  in  his 
camp  of  numbers  of  those  "gad-flies"  of  the  press — newspaper 
letter  writers  and  reporters — whose  indiscreetness  threatened 
to  reveal  to  the  enemy,  the  very  facts  which  most  needed  con- 
cealment. He  soon  put  an  end  to  this  risk  by  a  stringent 
general- order,  which  excluded  the  whole  busy  crew  from  his 
lines,  and,  of  course,  brought  down  upon  his  own  head  an  ava- 
lanche of  indignation  from  a  hitherto  "'untrammeled  press." 
Sherman's  greatest  difficulty,  however,  was  the  impossibility  of 
making  the  Government  comprehend  the  magnitude  of  the  con- 
test which  it  was  waging,  and  the  necessity  of  placing  a  large 
and  well  appointed  army  in  the  field,  which  should  make 
short  work  with  rebellion  by  the  crushing  weight  of  numbers. 
When,  in  October  1861,  he  explained  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
the  critical  position  of  his  own  department,  and,  in  reply  to  a 
question  of  the  number  of  troops  needed  for  an  immediate  for- 
ward and  decisive  movement,  replied  "  two  hundred  thousand 
men" — his  words  were  considered  visionary — and  he  was  incon- 
tinently pronounced  "  crazy,"  by  government  officials  as  well  as 
by  the  newspaper  press,  who  had  not  forgiven  him  for  his  for- 
mer severity.  Chagrined  at  the  distrust  of  his  military  judg- 
ment thus  evinced  by  his  superiors,  Sherman,  in  November  1861, 
asked  to  be  relieved  from  his  position,  and  was  succeeded  by 
General  Buell,  who,  being  immediately  reinforced  with  the 
troops  so  often  requested  by  and  so  persistently  denied  to  his 
predecessor,  was  enabled  to  hold  the  department  in  a  defensive 
attitude,  until  the  opening  of  the  spring  campaign. 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH   SHERMAN.  83 

Sherman,  meanwhile,  was  left  to  rust  in  command  of  Benton 
barracks,  near  St.  Louis,  until  General  Halleck,  who  succeeded 
Fremont  in  command  Sf  the  Western  Department,  and  who 
well  knew  the  abilities  of  the  man,  detailed  him  for  service  in 
General  Grant's  army ;  and,  after  the  capture  of  Fort  Donelson, 
he  was  placed  in  command  of  that  general's  fifth  division,  com- 
posed mostly  of  raw  troops,  whom  he  began  immediately  to 
drill  and  perfect.  Soon  the  storm  of  battle  again  burst  upon 
him,  at  Shiloh,  April  6th,  1862,  where  he  had  taken  position 
three  miles  out  from  Pittsburgh  Landing,  on  the  Corinth  road. 
Sustaining,  against  great  odds,  the  repeated  and  furious  onsets 
of  the  enemy  on  the  6th,  he  assumed  the  offensive  on  the  7th, 
and  pushed  them  back  with  heavy  loss ;  and,  on  the  morning 
of  the  8th,  pushing  still  forward,  met  and  routed  their  cavalry, 
and  captured  many  prisoners  and  large  quantities  of  arms  and 
ammunition.  During  the  advance  upon  Corinth,  which  followed 
this  battle  of  Shiloh,  his  division  was  constantly  in  the  lead  and 
carried,  occupied,  and  reintrenched  seven  distinct  camps  of  the 
enemy ;  and  when,  on  the  30th  of  May,  Beauregard  retreated 
from  the  city,  it  was  Sherman's  gallant  division  which  took 
possession  of  it.  Occupying  with  these  raw  recruits,  at  the 
opening  battle  of  Shiloh,  "  the  key  point  of  the  landing,"  says 
General  Grant,  in  his  official  report,  "  it  is  no  disparagement  to 
any  other  officer  to  say,  that  I  do  not  believe  there  was  another 
division  commander  on  the  field  who  had  the  skill  and  expe- 
rience to  have  done  it.  To  his  individual  efforts  I  am  indebted  for 
the  success  of  that  battle"  General  Halleck  also  records  it  as  the 
"unanimous  opinion,  that  General  Sherman  saved  the  for- 
tunes of  the  day  ;  he  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  had  three 
horses  killed  under  him,  and  was  twice  wounded" — and  in  this 
eulogium  of  his  services,  every  general  officer,  as  well  as  others, 
heartily  concurred.  At  the  earnest  request  of  Generals  Grant 


84  MEN   OF   OUR  DAY. 

'and  Halleck,  Sherman  was  made  a  major-general  of  volunteers, 
dating  from  May  1st,  1862.  Appointed  by  General  Grant,  in 
the  spring  of  1862,  to.  the  command  or  the  district  of  Memphis, 
Tennessee,  he  thoroughly  suppressed,  within  the  course  of  six 
months,  the  guerrilla  warfare  and  contraband  trade  which  had 
rendered  it,  in  the  opinion  of  rebel  officers,  a  more  valuable 
position  to  them  in  the  possession  of  the  Federal  government, 
then  it  ever  had  been  while  in  their  own.  When,  in  December, 
1862,  General  Grant  began  his  operations  against  Vicksburg, 
he  first  placed  Sherman  in  command  of  the  fifteenth  army  corps, 
and  after  the  latter  had  made  some  important  reconnoissances,  he 
took  him  into  his  confidence  regarding  his  plan  for  the  capture 
of  that  city.  According  to  this  plan,  Sherman,  with  four  picked 
divisions,  sailed  from  Memphis  in  December,  to  make  a  direct 
attack  upon  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  a  part  of  the  defences  of  Yicksburg 
on  the  river  side,  while  Grant  himself,  proceeding  down  the  Missis- 
sippi Central  railroad,  to  Jackson,  Mississippi,  was  to  move  to  the 
rear  of  the  city.  Grant's  movement,  however,  was  prevented  by 
the  unexpected  surrender  of  Holly  Springs,  on  the  Mississippi 
Central  railroad,  which  was  to  be  his  base  of  supplies,  and  he  was 
also  unable  to  communicate  the  fact  to  Sherman.  Unconscious 
of  this,  therefore,  the  latter  pressed  on,  disembarked  on  the  26th 
and  27th  of  December,  and  after  three  days'  desperate  fighting, 
which  failed  to  make  any  impression  upon  the  fortifications  of 
the  city,  had  the  mortification  to  be  superseded  in  command  by 
General  McClernand,  a  volunteer  officer,  to  whom  he  transferred 
the  command  with  a  soldierly  loyalty  and  manliness,  which  few 
men,  in  his  circumstances,  would  have  been  able  to  exhibit 
towards  a  civilian  general,  and  a  rival.  The  repulse  of  the 
Chickasaw  Bluffs,  however,  was  subsequently  fully  compensated 
for  by  the  hearty  praise  and  candid  criticism  of  General  Grant 
and  other  eminent  military  critics,  who  saw,  in  the  natural  topo- 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH    SHERMAN.  85 

graphy  of  the  ground,  the  insuperable  obstacles  against  which 
he  had  so  bravely  contended.     Sherman's  next  most  brilliant 
exploit  was  his  rapid  and  successful  movement  for  the  relief  of 
Admiral   Porter's  fleet  of  gunboats,   on  the  Sunflower  river, 
which  were  in  danger  of  being  hemmed  in  by  the  enemy,  while 
attempting  to  reach  Haines'  Bluff,  above  Yicksburg,  with  a 
view  to  an  attack  on  the  city.     In  Grant's  subsequent  attempt 
on  the  city  from  below,  the  role  assigned  to  Sherman  was  one 
involving  considerable  danger,  and  requiring  a  high  degree  of 
military  tact — being  a  feigned  attack,  or  rather  a  demonstration, 
in    conjunction   with  the   gunboats,    on   Haines'   Bluff.     This 
attack,  which  continued  with  great  fury  for  two  days,  enabled 
Grant  to  land  his  troops  without  opposition  at  a  point  seventy 
miles  below, — then,  by  a  forced  six  days'  march  over  terrible 
roads,  General  Sherman  joined  his  force  to  that  of  Grant  at 
Grand  Gulf,  and  the  whole  army  moved  forward.     We  next 
find  Sherman  operating  with  McPherson  in  a  series  of  brilliant 
movements,  resulting  in  the  rout  of  the  enemy  and  the  capture 
of  Jackson,  Mississippi,  and  the  destruction  of  numerous  rail- 
road bridges,  machine  shops,  and  arsenals  at  that  point ;  then, 
by  a  succession  of  rapid  marches,  which  General  Grant  charac- 
terized as  "  almost  unequalled,"  he  wrested  the  possession  of 
Walnut  Hills  from  the  enemy,  cutting  their  force  in  two.  and 
compelling  the  evacuation  of  Haines',   Snyder's,  Walnut,  and 
Chickasaw  Bluffs,  together  with  all  their  strong  works;  and 
enabling  General  Grant  at  once  to  open  communication  with 
the  fleet  and  his  new  base  on  the  Yazoo  and  Mississippi,  above 
Yicksburg.     To  General  Sherman  it  was  perhaps  an  additional 
source  of  pleasure  that  the  position  which  he  had  thus  gained 
by  a  rear  attack,  was  the  very  one  against  which,  less  than  five 
months  before,  he  had  hurled  his  troops  in  vam.     In  the  first 
assault  on  the  enemy's  lines,  May  19th,  Sherman's  corps,  alone 


86  MEN   OP   OUR   DAY 

of  the  three  engaged,  succeeded  in  making  any  material  advance. 
The  surrender  of  the  city  of  Yicksburg,  on  the  4th  of  July, 
.brought  rest  and  comfort  to  all  of  the  brave  "Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  except  to  Sherman's  corps,  who  were  immediately 
started  in  pursuit  of  Johnston,  then  hovering  in  the  rear  of  the 
Union  army.  Johnston  marched  at  once  to  Jackson,  which  he 
attempted  to  defend,  but  finally,  on  the  night  of  the  16th, 
evacuated  hastily,  abandoning  every  thing  to  Sherman,  of  whom 
General  Grant  said,  in  reference  to  this  last  success,  "  It  entitles 
General  Sherman  to  more  credit  than  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of 
one  man  to  earn."  A  well  earned  rest  of  two  months  was 
terminated,  September  23d,  by  orders  from  Grant  to  reinforce 
Kosecrans,  who  had  just  fought  the  battle  of  Chickamauga. 
Promptness,  celerity  of  movement,  and  a  force  of  will  which 
overcame  every  obstacle  which  enemy  or  accident  placed  in  his 
way,  characterized  his  execution  of  this  order.  Arriving  at 
Memphis,  he  pushed  on  to  open  communication  between  that 
city  and  Chattanooga;  and,  while  so  engaged,  was  appointed 
commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  at  the  request  of 
General  Grant,  who  had  been  advanced  to  the  command  of  the 
Grand  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi,  comprising  the 
Armies  of  the  Cumberland,  the  Ohio,  and  the  Tennessee.  On 
the  15th  of  November,  under  imperative  orders  from  Grant, 
and  by  a  forced  march,  he  joined  that  general  at  Chattanooga, 
and  exhausted  as  his  men  were,  by  the  arduous  march  from 
Memphis,  he  at  once  received,  and  promptly  obeyed,  orders  to 
cross  the  Tennessee,  make  a  lodgment  on  the  terminus  of 
Missionary  Eidge  and  demonstrate  against  Bragg's  flank. 
The  roads  were  in  a  horrible  condition,  but  by  herculean  exer- 
tions, three  divisions  were  put  across  the  river  and  concealed, 
during  the  night  of  November  23d,  behind  some  hills,  and  by 
one  o'clock,  the  following  morning,  his  whole  force  had  crossed 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH   SHERMAN.  87 

both  the  Tennessee  and  the  Chickamauga,  and  under  cover  of 
a  rain  and  dense  fog,  the  cavalry  dashed  forward  to  cut  the 
Chattanooga  and  Knoxville,  and  the  Cleveland  and  Dalton  rail- 
roads, while  the  infantry,  by  half  past  three,  P.  M.,  surprised 
and  captured  the  fortifications  on  the  terminus  of  Missionary 
Eiclge ;  and  the  Union  guns  being  dragged  up  the  steep  ascent, 
quickly  silenced  the  fire  which  was  opened  upon  them  from  the 
batteries  of  the  discomforted  and  enraged  enemy.  The  night 
was  spent  in  rest  and  preparation  for  the  struggle  which  the 
morrow  would  inevitably  bring  for  the  possession  of  Fort  Buck- 
ner,  the  formidable  fortification  which  crowned  the  next  or 
superior  ridge  of  the  hill.  To  General  Sherman,  on  account  of 
his  known  abilities  and,  more  especially,  his  unquestioning 
obedience  to  military  necessities,  was  assigned  a  task  requiring 
firmness  and  self-sacrifice,  unattended  with  any  immediate  hope 
of  reputation  and  fame,  but  which  he  accepted  with  that  prompt- 
ness which  always  characterizes  him.  It  was,  to  make  a  per- 
sistent demonstration  against  Fort  Buckner,  in  order  to  draw 
the  enemy's  force  from  Forts  Bragg  and  Breckinridge,  which 
being  weakened,  would  fall  an  easier  conquest  to  Grant's  storm- 
ing column.  Splendidly  did  this  masterly  soldier  and  his  brave 
men  carry  out  their  part  in  the  programme  of  the  battle  of  the 
25th.  From  sunrise,  until  three  o'clock,  they  surged  forward 
in  desperate  charges  upon  the  fortifications  of  the  crested 
heights  above  them — again  and  again  were  repulsed — still 
gained  a  little  and  steadily  held  what  they  gained — until  the 
enemy  had  massed  nearly  his  whole  force  against  the  struggling 
column;  when,  suddenly,  Hooker  swooped  down  upon  Fort 
Bragg,  and  at  twenty  minutes  to  four  p.  M.,  Thomas's  Fourth 
army  corps,  charging  in  solid  column  up  the  ridge,  carried  Fort 
Breckinridge  by  assault — and  the  battles  of  Chattanooga  were 
won.  The  glorious  success  of  that  day  was  due  quite  as  much 


88  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

to  the  persistency  and  stubbornness  with  which  General  Sherman 
held  the  crest  of  Tunnel  Hill,  as  to  the  gallant  daring  of  the 
other  divisions ;  and.  without  the  former,  the  latter  could  never, 
by  any  possibility,  have  succeeded. 

Victory,  however,  brought  no  respite  to  Sherman  and  his 
tired  veterans.  The  flying  foe  was  to  be  pursued  and  railroad 
connections  severed ;  and,  while  so  engaged,  they  were  ordered 
to  the  relief  of  Knoxville,  where  twelve  thousand  men  under 
General  Burnside  were  closely  besieged  by  Longstreet.  Eighty- 
four  miles  of  terrible  roads,  and  two  rivers,  lay  between  them 
and  Knoxville,  which  must  be  reached  in  three  days.  Seven  days 

before  they  had  left  their  camp  beyond  the  Tennessee,  with 

.  • 

only  two  days'  rations,  and  but  a  single  coat  or  blanket  per 
man,  officers  as  well  as  privates,  and  with  no  other  provisions 
but  such  as  they  could  gather  by  the  road.  In  that  time,  also, 
they  had  borne  a  conspicuous  part  in  a  terrible  battle,  and  well 
might  they  have  been  excused  if  they  had  grumbled  at  this 
fresh  imposition  of  extra  duty.  But  with  them  "  to  hear  was 
to  obey."  The  railroad  bridge  across  the  Hiawassee  was  repaired 
and  planked ;.  they  then  pushed  forward  to  the  Tennessee,  and 
found  the  bridge  there  destroyed  by  the  enemy,  who  retreated. 
Despatching  Colonel  Long  with  the  cavalry  brigade,  with  orders 
to  ford  the  Little  Tennessee,  and  communicate  tidings  of  the 
approaching  relief  to  General  Burnside  within  twenty-four 
hours,  Sherman  turned  aside  to  Morgantown,  where  he  extem- 
porized a  bridge,  which  he  crossed  on  the  night  of  December 
4th;  and  the  next  morning  received  information  from  Burn- 
side  of  Colonel  Long's  safe  arrival,  and  that  all  was  well. 
Moving  still  rapidly  forward,  he  was  met  at  Marysville,  on  the 
evening  of  the  5th,  by  the  welcome  news  of  the  abandonment 
of  the  siege  by  General  Longstreet,  on  the  previous  evening. 
Halting  at  Marysville,  he  sent  forward  two  divisions,  under 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH   SHERMAN.  89 

General  Granger,  to  Knoxville,  and  every  thing  there  being  found 
safe,  returned  leisurely  with  the  rest  of  his  army  to  Chattanooga. 
The  three  months'  campaign  thus  closed,  had  been  one  of 
extreme  fatigue  .and  brilliant  success.  Leaving  Vicksburg, 
they  had  marched  four  hundred  miles,  without  sleep  for  three 
successive  nights,  fought  at  Chattanooga,  chased  the  enemy 
out  of  Tennessee,  and  turning  more  than  a  hundred  miles  north- 
ward, had  compelled  the  raising  of  the  siege  of  Knoxville. 
All  this  had  been  done,  much  of  the  time,  in  the  depth  of  winter, 
over  a  mountainous  region,  sometimes  barefoot,  without  regular 
rations  or  supplies  of  any  kind,  and  yet  without  a  murmur. 
"  Forty  rounds  of  ammunition  in  our  cartridge-boxes,  sixty 
rounds  in  our  pockets ;  a  march  from  Memphis  to  Chattanooga ; 
a  battle  and  pursuit ;  another  march  to  Knoxville ;  and  victory 
everywhere,"  was  the  proud  answer  of  one  of  these  fifteenth 
corps  soldiers,  in  reply  to  the  sentinel  who  asked  him  where  his 
badge  was.  And  the  cartridge-box  with  forty  rounds,  thence- 
forth, became  the  emblem  of  the  fifteenth  corps. 

Early  in  1863,  Gen.  Sherman  planned  an  expedition  into 
Central  Mississippi,  which  was  sanctioned  by  Gen.  Grant  and 
which  was  immediately  carried  into  effect.  His  idea  was  to 
march  a  movable  column  of  22,000  men,  cut  loose  from  any 
base,  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  through  the  enemy's 
country,  which  should  sweep  Mississippi  and  Alabama  out 
of  the  grasp  of  the  rebels.  As  a  military  conception  it  was  un- 
surpassed in  modern  times,*  except  by  Sherman  himself  in  his 
later  movements ;  and  that  it  failed  of  its  intended  results — and 
became  merely  a  gigantic  raid,  which,  however,  carried  terror 
and  destruction  into  the  very  heart  of  the  Confederacy — was 
owing  only  to  the  lack  of  proper  energy  in  the  co-operating 
cavalry  force.  This  force,  8000  strong,  leaving  Memphis  on  the 
1st  of  February,  was  to  move  down  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  rail- 


90  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

road  from  Corinth  to  Meridian,  destroying  the  road  as  they 
went.  At  Meridian  they  were  expected  to  meet  Sherman,  who, 
with  20,000  cavalry,  1200  infantry,  and  twenty  days'  rations, 
left  Vicksburg  on  the  3d.  The  cavalry  force,  however,  were  so 
badly  behind  time  at  starting,  that  when  they  did  move  they 
met  with  much  opposition  from  the  enemy,  who  had  massed  at 
different  points  on  the  route;  and  they  finally  turned  back. 
Sherman's  share  of  the  expedition  was  promptly  carried  out, 
railroad  communications  were  cut,  stores  destroyed,  negroes 
brought  away,  and  an  immense  amount  of  irreparable  damage 
done.  Finding  that  the  co-operating  cavalry  force  was  not  "  on 
time  "  at  the  appointed  rendezvous,  he  turned  his  face  westward 
from  Meridian,  followed  at  a  very  respectful  distance  by  the 
enemy,  from  whom,  however,  he  received  no  serious  opposition. 
The  failure,  however,  deranged  and  postponed,  for  a  time,  the 
contemplated  attack  on  Mobile  by  Farragut. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  1864,  Sherman  succeeded  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  grand  military  division  of  the  Mississippi,  recently 
vacated  by  Gen.  Grant,  who  had  been  elevated  to  the  command 
of  the  armies  of  the  United  States.  This  division  comprised 
the  departments  of  the  Ohio,  the  Cumberland,  the  Tennessee, 
and,  for  the  time,  Arkansas ;  and  the  forces  under  his  command 
— soon  to  be  increased — numbered,  at  that  time,  over  150,000 
men,  under  such  leaders  as  Thomas,  McPherson,  Schofield, 
Hooker,  Howard,  Stoneman,  Kilpatrick,  Eousseau,  and  others 
of  equal  ability  and  fame.  At  a  'conference  with  Grant,  soon 
after  this  event,  plans  for  the  coming  campaign  had  been  fully 
discussed  and  agreed  upon.  It  was  decided  that  a  simultaneous 
forward  movement  of  the  eastern  and  western  armies  should 
take  place  in  May,  one  aiming  for  Eichmond,  Virginia,  and  the 
other  for  Atlanta,  Georgia.  In  less  than  fifty  days,  Sherman 
had  concentrated  the  different  army  corps  at  Chattanooga,  as 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH    SHERMAN.  91 

well  as  immense  stores  of  arms,  ammunition  and  cannon ;  had 
re-organized  and  drilled  his  men,  remounted  and  increased  his 
cavalry,  and  made  all  the  arrangements,  even  to  the  minutest 
detail,  for  the  expected  campaign.  On  the  seventh  of  May,  his 
army  of  98,797  effective  men  (of  which  6149  were  cavalry  and 
4460  artillery)  and  254  guns,  moved  forward  to  its  gigantic 
work — the  capture  of  Atlanta,  130  miles  distant.  The  region 
of  Northern  Georgia  through  which  they  were  to  pass,  abounds 
in  rugged  hills,  narrow  and  steep  defiles  and  valleys,  with  rapid 
and  deep  streams ;  and  is,  in  all  respects,  a  difficult  country  for 
military  movements.  In  addition  to  its  natural  topographical 
advantages,  the  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta  railroad  threaded 
many  of  these  mountain  passes,  and  these  points,  therefore,  had 
received  the  special  attention  and  scientific  skill  of  Gen.  John- 
ston, the  rebel  commander,  who  had  added  immensely  to  their 
strength  by  almost  impregnable  fortifications.  Opposed  to  the 
Union  troops,  also,  were  about  45,000  well  trained  soldiers,  re- 
inforced during  the  subsequent  campaign  by  nearly  21,000,  and 
commanded  by  Johnston,  Hardee,  Hood,  and  other  picked  gen- 
erals of  the  Confederacy.  Again,  while  the  rebel  army,  if  com- 
pelled to  retreat,  would  be  only  falling  back  upon  its  base  of 
supplies,  Sherman's  army,  already  350  miles  from  the  primary 
base  at  Louisville,  and  175  from  its  secondary  base  at  Nashville, 
was  increasing  that  distance  by  every  step  of  its  advance ;  and 
was  under  the  necessity  of  guarding  its  long  and  constantly  in- 
creasing line  of  communications  (one,  and  for  a  part  of  the  dis- 
tance, two  lines  of  railroad,  and  in  certain  conditions  of  naviga- 
tion, the  Tennessee  river)  from  being  cut  by  the  rebel  cavalry, 
as  well  as  from  the  attacks  of  guerrillas.  Yet  Sherman,  during 
the  succeeding  five  months'  campaign,  retained  this  line  of 
nearly  500  miles,  wholly  within  his  control,  turning  to  the  sig- 
nal discomfiture  of  the  enemy  every  attempt  which  they  made 


92  MEN"   OF    OUR   DAY. 

to  destroy  it.  Dal  ton,  a  position  of  great  strength,  and  which 
could  only  be  reached  by  the  Buzzard  Boost's  Gap,  a  narrow 
and  lofty  defile  in  the  great  rock -faced  ridge  of  the  Chattoo- 
gata  mountains,  was  the  first  point  of  attack.  Protected  by  a 
formidable  abatis,  and  artificially  flooded  from  a  neighboring 
creek,  and  commanded  by  heavy  batteries,  this  defile,  through 
which  the  railroad  passed,  and  which  offered  the  only  route  to 
Dalton,  was  impregnable  by  a  front  attack.  Leaving  Thomas 
and  Howard  to  demonstrate  vigorously  against  it,  therefore, 
Sherman,  with  the  res.t  of  his  army,  flanked  it  by  a  movement 
through  Snake  Creek  Gap,  towards  Eesaca,  .on  the  railroad, 
eighteen  miles  below  Dalton.  Johnston,  however,  fell  back  on 
Eesaca  before  the  Union  army  had  reached  it,  while  Howard 
passed  through  Dalton  close  in  Johnston's  rear.  Once  in  Ee- 
saca, Johnston  showed  fight,  and  Sherman  having  pontooned  the 
Oostanaula,  south  of  the  town,  and  sent  a  division  to  threaten 
Calhoun,  the  next  place  on  the  railroad,  and  a  cavalry  division 
to  cut  up  the  railroad  between  Calhoun  and  Kingston,  gave  bat- 
tle at  Eesaca,  which  place,  after  two  days'  heavy  fighting,  the 
rebel  commander  abandoned  in  the  night  of  the  15th,  burning 
the  bridge  behind  him,  with  a  loss  of  some  3500,  of  whom 
1000  were  prisoners,  eight  guns  and  a  large  amount  of  stores,  etc. 
Pressing  fiercely  on  his  flying  footsteps,  Sherman  sent  the  14th 
corps  to  Eome,  which  was  captured  and  garrisoned,  and  after  a 
severe  skirmish  at  Adairsville,  he;  reached  Kingston  on  the  18th, 
captured  it,  and  gave  his  troops  a  few  days'  rest,  while  he  re- 
opened communications  with  Chattanooga,  and  brought  forward 
supplies  for  his  army.  On  the  23d,  with  twenty  days'  rations,  he 
moved  forward  again,  flanking  the  dangerous  defile  of  Allatoona 
Pass,  by  a  rapid  march  on  the  town  of  Dallas.  Johnston,  fearing 
for  the  safety  of  his  railroad  communications,  felt  compelled  to 
leave  his  fortified  position  and  give  battle.  In  rapid  succession 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH   SHERMAN".  93 

followed  the  severe  engagements  at  Burnt  Hickory  on  the  24th, 
at  Pumpkinviue  creek  and  at  New  Hope  church,  on  the  25th,  and 
Johnston's  grand  attack  on  General  McPherson  at  Dallas,  on  the 
28th,  where  the  former  was  repulsed  with  a  loss  of  over  three 
thousand.  While  this  had  been  going  on,  Sherman  had  extended 
his  left,  so  as  to  envelope  the  rebel  right,  and  to  occupy  all  the 
roads  leading  eastward  towards  Allatoona  and  Ackworth,  and 
finally  occupied  Allatoona  Pass  with  his  cavalry,  with  a  feint  of 
moving  further  south.  Suddenly,  however,  he  reached  Ackworth, 
and  Johnston  was  obliged  to  fall  back,  on  the  4th  of  June,  to 
Kenesaw  mountain.  Sherman  now  fortified  and  garrisoned 
Allatoona  Pass  as  a  secondary  base,  repaired  his  communica- 
tions, and  on  the  9th  of  June  received  full  supplies  and  rein- 
forcements by  railroad  from  Chattanooga. 

Moving  forward  again,  he  proceeded  to  press  Johnston,  who 
held  a  finely  fortified  position  in  a  triangle,  formed  by  the  north- 
ern slopes  of  Pine,  Kenesaw,  and  Lost  mountains.  After  several 
days'  artillery  practice,  General  Johnston  was  found,  on  the 
morning  of  the  15th,  to  have  abandoned  the  first  named  moun- 
tain, and  to  be  occupying  a  well  intrenched  line  between  the 
two  latter.  Sherman  still  pressed  him  until  he  evacuated  Lost 
mountain,  and,  finally,  was  obliged  to  make  another  change — 
with  Kenesaw  as  his  salient,  covering  Marietta  with  his  right 
wing,  and  with  his  left  on  Norse's  creek,  by  which  means  he 
hoped  to  gain  security  for  his  railroad  line.  A  sally  by  Hood's 
corps  upon  the  Union  lines,  on  the  22d,  was  repulsed  with  a 
heavy  loss  to  the  assailants ;  and,  on  the  27th,  Sherman  made 
an  assault  upon  Johnston's  position,  which  was  unsuccessful. 
Despite  the  heavy  loss  which  they  sustained,  the  Union  troops 
were  not  dispirited,  and  a  skilful  manosuvre  by  Sherman,  com- 
pelled the  evacuation  of  Marietta,  on  the  2d  of  July.  General 
Johnston  remained  well  intrenched  on  the  west  bank  of  the 


04.  MEN  OF   OUR   DAY. 

Chattahoochie,  until  the  5th,  when  a  flank  movement  of  Sher- 
man compelled  him  to  cross,  which  he  did  in  good  order.  But, 
on  the  7th  and  8th  of  July,  Sherman  secured  three  good  points 
for  crossing  the  river,  and  the  Confederates  were  obliged  to  fall 
back  to  Atlanta,  leaving  their  antagonist  in  full  possession  of 
the  river.  "While  giving  his  men  the  brief  rest,  which  they  so 
much  needed,  before  his  next  move  on  Atlanta,  eight  miles  dis- 
tant, Sherman  on  the  9th,  telegraphed  orders  to  a  force  of  two 
thousand  cavalry  (which  he  had  already  collected  at  Decatur, 
over  two  hundred  miles  in  Johnston's  rear)  to  push  south  and 
break  up  the  railroad  connections  around  Opelika,  by  which 
the  rebel  army  got  its  supplies  from  central  and  southern 
Alabama,  Georgia,  and  Mississippi,  and  then  join  him  at 
Marietta.  The  cavalry,  under  General  Rousseau,  set  out 
promptly,  and,  within  twelve  days,  destroyed  thirty  miles  of 
railroad,  defeated  the  rebel  General  Clanton,  and  reached  Mari- 
etta on  the  22d,  with  a  loss  of  only  thirty  men.  Meanwhile, 
the  main  army  had  been  enjoying  a  rest,  supplies  had  been 
brought  forward,  railroad  guards  and  garrisons  strengthened, 
roads  and  bridges  improved  and  the  attention  of  the  rebels 
well  diverted  by  cavalry  expeditions  which  were  sent  down 
the  river.  On  the  17th,  then,  a  general  advance  was  made,  and 
the  same  evening  the  Union  army  formed  its  line  along  the 
old  Peach  Tree  road.  The  next  day  McPherson  and  Schofield, 
swinging  around  upon  the  Augusta  railroad,  east  of  Decatur, 
broke  it  up  most  effectually,  and,  on  the  19th,  Thomas  crossed 
Peach  Tree  creek  on  numerous  bridges  thrown  across  in  face 
of  the  enemy's  lines.  All  this  was  accomplished  with  heavy 
skirmishing,  and  on  the  20th,  Hood  (who,  three  days  previous, 
had  succeeded  General  Johnston  in  the  supreme  command  of 
the  Confederate  army),  taking  advantage  of  a  gap  between  two 
corps  of  the  Union  army,  hurled  his  whole  force  upon  its  left 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH   SHERMAN.  95 

wing,  with  the  hope  of  cutting  off  and  routing  it.  His  skilfully 
conceived  stratagem,  however,  was  foiled  by  the  unexpected 
steadiness  of  the  Union  soldiers,  and  after  a  terrible  battle  the 
enemy  was  driven  back  to  his  intrenchments,  with  a  loss  of 
over  five  thousand  men.  Retreating  to  his  interior  lines  along 
the  creek,  forming  the  outer  lines  of  the  defences  proper  of 
Atlanta,  Hood  now  massed  nearly  his  whole  force,  and,  upon 
the  22d,  fell  upon  Sherman's  left  with  great  fury.  Six  times 
during  the  day  his  columns  desperately  charged  upon  the 
Union  lines,  but  at  night  he  was  compelled  to  withdraw  with 
a  loss  of  fully  12,000  men,  of  whom  over  3000  were  killed, 
5000  stand  of  arms  and  eighteen  flags.  The  Union  loss  waa 
but  1,720,  but  among  the  slain  was  the  able  and  beloved  Major- 
General  James  B.  McPherson,  commander  of  the  army  of  the 
Tennessee,  whose  death  was  not  only  a  serious  blow  to  General 
Sherman,  but  was  generally  regarded  as  a  national  misfortune. 
The  day  following  this  severely  contested  battle,  General  Gar- 
rard's  cavalry  force,  which  had  been  sent  to  Covington,  Georgia, 
to  break  the  railroad  and  bridges  near  that  place,  returned  to 
headquarters,  having  fully  executed  his  mission  with  great 
damage  to  the  rebel  cotton  and  stores,  and  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  prisoners.  An  expedition,  however,  planned  by  General 
Sherman  for  the  destruction  of  the  Atlanta  and  Macon,  and  the 
West  Point  railroads,  with  the  view  of  severing  Atlanta  from 
all  its  communications  and  compelling  its  surrender,  was  not  so 
successful.  A  portion  of  it,  under  General  McCook,  performed 
its  share  speedily  and  well,  but  the  co-operating  force  under 
General  Stoneman  unfortunately  failed — the  general  and  a 
large  number  of  his  men  being  captured — while  McCook  was 
obliged  to  fight  his  way  out ;  the  whole  entailing  a  heavy  loss 
of  cavalry  to  the  Union  army. 

On  the  28th  of  July,  Hood  in  full  force  again  assaulted  the 


gg  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

Union  army  on  the  Bell's  Ferry  road — expecting  to  catch  its 
right  flank  "  in  air."  He  found,  however,  that  Sherman  was 
perfectly  prepared  for  him — and,  after  six  desperate  assaults, 
gave  it  up  as  a  bad  job,  having  lost  fully,  5000  men,  which, 
with  his  losses  in  the  previous  battles  of  the  20th  and  23d, 
placed  nearly  one  half  of  his  force  hors  du  combat.  Hoping,  by 
threatening  his  communications,  to  draw  Hood  out  from  hi? 
fortifications,  Sherman  now  extended  his  line  southwesterly 
towards  East  Point.  The  ruse  failed,  however,  and  the  only 
alternative  remaining  to  compass  the  capture  of  Atlanta,  in- 
volved the  necessity  "of  another  flank  movement  of  the  whole 
army,  a  difficult  and  unwelcome  matter  both  as  regarded  the 
further  removal  of  the  •'army  from  its  base  of  supplies  and  the 
apparent  raising  of  the  siege.  But  there  seemed  to  be  no  other 
way,  and  accordingly,  on  the  nights  of  the  25th  and  26th,  a  por- 
tion of  his  army  was  withdrawn  to  the  Ohattahoochie,  and 
Hood  congratulated  himself  that  a  cavalry  expedition  which  he 
had  sent  northward  to  break  the  Union  connections  between 
Allatoons  and  Chattanooga,  had  alarmed  Sherman  for  the 
safety  of  his  communications,  and  compelled  him  to  raise  the 
siege.  The  joy  of  the  rebels,  however,  was  of  short  duration; 
on  the  29th  of  August,  they  learned  that  Sherman's  army  was 
sweeping  their  own  railroad  communications  at  AVest  Ppint 
with  a  "  besom  of  destruction" — and  on  the  31st,  two  rebel 
corps,  which  had  been  hastily  pushed  forward  to  Jonesboro, 
were  heavily  repulsed  by  the  advancing  Union  armies.  Find- 
ing his  communications  now  irretrievably  lost,  by  this  flank 
movement  of  his  antagonist,  Hood  retreated,  on  the  night  of 
September  1st,  to  Lovejoy's  Station.  Atlanta  was  occupied, 
the  next  day,  by  the  victorious  Union  troops,  and  the  city  was 
immediately  converted  into  a  strictly  military  post.  The  loss 
of  Atlanta  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  rebels ;  and,  under  orders 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH   SHEBMAN.  97 

from  President  Davis,  on  the  24th  of  September,  Hood  ini- 
tiated a  series  of  movements  bj  which  he  hoped  to  recover 
not  only  it,  but  northern  Georgia  and  east  and  middle  Ten- 
nessee. Sherman,  however,  kept  a  watchful  eye  upon  him 
and  pursued  him  closely  to  Gaylesville,  where  he  could  watch 
him  intrenched  at  Will's  Gap,  in  Lookout  mountain.  Divin- 
ing, further,  that  Hood  meditated  a  union  with  General  Dick 
Taylor  at  Tuscumbia,  Alabama,  and  a  joint  attempt  by  them, 
for  the  recovery  of  middle  and  east  Tennessee,  he  divided  his 
army,  giving  a  share  to  his  trusted  friend  General  George  H. 
Thomas,  with  orders  to  hold  Tennessee  against  the  rebels. 
Then,  announcing  to  his  army  that  he  should  follow  Hood 
northward  no  longer,  but  "if  he  would  go  to  the  river,  he 
would  give  him  his  rations,"  he  moved  back  to  Atlanta,  by  the 
1st  of  November,  and  sent  the  railroad  track,  property  of  value, 
etc.,  at  that  city  and  along  the  line,  to  Chattanooga,  which 
thenceforward  became  the  outpost  of  the  Union  army  in  that 
direction.  Leaving  Tennessee  safe  in  Thomas's  charge,  and 
Schofield  to  keep  the  rebels  out  of  Chattanooga  and  Nashville, 
Sherman  now  prepared  for  a  campaign  which  he  had  already 
projected  through  Georgia  and  North  Carolina  "to  the  sea." 
"  They  are  at  my  mercy,"  he  telegraphed  to  Washington,  "  and 
I  shall  strike.  Do  not  be  anxious  about  me.  I  am  all  right." 
With  the  army  under  his  command,  consisting  of  nearly  60,000 
infantry,  and  10,000  cavalry,  he  proposed  to  cut  loose  from  all 
bases,  and,  with  thirty  or  forty  days'  rations  and  a  train  of  the 
smallest  possible  dimensions,  to  move  southeastward  through 
the  very  heart  of  the  Confederacy,  upon  Savannah ;  thence,  if 
favored  by  circumstances,  to  turn  northward  through  North  and 
South  Carolinas,  thus  compelling  the  surrender  or  evacuation 
of  Eichmond.  With  General  Sherman,  action  follows  close  on 
thought.  Destroying  all  the  public  buildings  of  Atlanta,  he 


gg  MEN  OF   OUR  DAY. 

moved  forward  in  two  columns,  the  right  commanded  by  Gen- 
eral Howard  and  the  left  by  General  Slocum,  while  a  cloud  of 
cavalry  floating  around  the  main  body,  shrouded  the  real  inten- 
tions of  the  march  with  a  degree  of  mystery  impenetrable  to 
the  enemy.  General  Howard's  column,  accompanied  by  Gen- 
eral Sherman,  passed  through  East  Point,  Bough  and  Eeady, 
Griffin,  Jonesboro,  McDonough,  Forsythe,  Hillsboro,  and  Monti- 
cello,  reaching  Milledgeville,  the  capital  of  Georgia,  on  the  20th 
of  November ;  thence  via  Saundersville  and  Griswold  to  Louis- 
ville. The  left  wing,  meanwhile,  under  Slocum,  had  marched 
through  Decatur,  Covington,  Social  Circle,  Madison ;  threatened 
Macon  with  attack,  then  through  Buckhead  and  Queensboro, 
and  divided,  one  part  moving  towards  Augusta,  the  other  to 
Eatonton  and  Sparta.  Here,  uniting,  they  entered  Warren  and 
finally  joined  the  right  wing  at  Louisville.  The  whole  force 
now  moved  down  the  left  bank  of  the  Ogeechee  to  Millen  and 
thence  to  the  Savannah  canal,  where  their  scouts,  on  the  9th 
of  December,  communicated  with  General  Foster  and  Admiral 
Dahlgren,  who  where  there  waiting  for  their  arrival. 

During  this  magnificent  march  of  three  hundred  miles,  they 
had  met  with  no  very  serious  opposition,  and  the  few  troops 
which  the  rebel  generals  could  muster,  were  skilfully  thrown 
out  of  his  way  by  Sherman's  feints  on  Macon  and  Augusta — 
by  which  they  were  garrisoned  for  the  defence  of  those  cities. 
So  completely,  indeed,  was  General  Bragg  fooled  by  his  wily 
antagonist,  that  when  Savannah  was  actually  attacked,  he  was 
unable  to  come  to  its  relief.  Fo|fc  McAllister  was  carried  by 
storm,  by  the  Union  troops,  on  the  13th  of  December,  and  on 
the  16th,  the  city,  which,  by  some  strange  oversight,  had  only  a 
garrison  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  was  summoned  to 
surrender.  General  Hardee,  who  commanded  these,  refused, 
whereupon  Sherman  commanded  to  invest  the  city,  with  the 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH   SHERMAN.  99 

design  of  bombarding  it.  But,  on  the  night  of  the  20th,  tinder 
cover  of  a  heavy  fire  from  the  rebel  gunboats  and  batteries, 
Hardee  abandoned  the  city,  which  was  entered  the  next  day  by 
the  Union  army.  Into  the  hands  of  the  victors  fell  150  guns, 
13  locomotives,  190  cars,  large  stores  of  ammunition  and  sup- 
plies, 3  steamers,  and  33,000  bales  of  cotton  in  warehouses. 
The  expedition,  the  entire  loss  of  which  was  less  than  400  men, 
gave  freedom  to  over  20,000  slaves  who  accompanied  it  to 
Savannah ;  and  its  course  was  marked  by  over  200  miles  of 
destroyed  railroad,  which  effectually  broke  the  enemy's  con- 
nection with  Hood's  and  Beauregard's  armies.  Simultaneously, 
also,  with  their  victorious  entry  into  Savannah,  Sherman  and 
his  brave  veterans  received  the  welcome  news,  that  the  Union 
army  in  Tennessee,  decoying  Hood  to  Nashville,  had  there 
turned  upon  him,  and  utterly  routed  him  even  beyond  the 
borders  of  Alabama.  From  every  quarter,  indeed,  of  Sherman's 
military  jurisdiction,  came  the  good  news,  that  in  each  place  his 
subordinates  had  proved  themselves  worthy  of  the  trusts  com- 
mitted to  their  charge.  Hopefully  then,  the  great  leader  turned 
to  the  completion  of  his  self-imposed  and  herculean  task. 

South  Carolina — Columbia,  its  capital,  and  Charleston,  "  the 
nest  of  the  rebellion,"  were  yet  to  be  humbled  beneath  the 
mailed  foot  of  loyalty.  Eefreshed,  recruited  and  strengthened 
at  every  point,  the  army  commenced  its  march  to  the  northward, 
on  the  14th  of  January,  1865.  Two  corps  (15th  and  17th)  were 
sent  by  transports  to  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  where  they 
were  joined  by  Foster's  command,  and  the  whole  force  moved 
on  the  Savannah  and  Charleston  railroad.  A  few  days  later, 
the  two  remaining  corps  (14th  and  20th)  crossed  the  Savannah 
river,  and  despite  the  overflowed  and  terrible  condition  of  the 
roads,  struck  the  railroad  between  Branchville  and  Charleston, 
early  in  February ;  compelled  the  enemy  to  evacuate  the  former 


J00  MEN  OF   OUK   DAY. 

place  on  the  llth,  and  breaking  up  the  road  so  as  to  effectually 
prevent  reinforcement  from  the  west,  entering  Orangeburg  on 
the  16th,  and  Columbia  on  the  18th,  close  on  the  heels  of 
Beauregard's  retreating  force.  This  movement  flanked  Charles  - 
ton,  and  Hardee,  finding  it  untenable,  retreated  in  the  light  of  a 
conflagration,  which  laid  two  thirds  of  the  business  portion  of 
that  beautiful  city  in  ashes.  On  the  morning  of  February  18th, 
the  Union  troops  from  Morris  island,  entered  the  city,  and  the 
"old  flag"  once  more 'floated  over  Fort  Sumter.  Moving  in  two 
columns,  the  17th  and  20th  corps  marched  from  Columbia  to 
Winnsboro,  thirty  miles  north,  on  the  Charlotte  and  Columbia 
railroad,  which  was  thoroughly  destroyed.  Sending  Kilpatrick 
towards  Chesterville,  in  order  to  delude  Beauregard  into  the  be- 
lief that  he  was  moving  on  that  point,  Sherman  turned  east,  his 
left  wing  directed  towards  Cheraw,  and  his  right  threatening 
Florence.  On  the  3d  of  March  occurred  the  short  and  not  very 
severe  battle  of  Cheraw,  a  success  for  the  Union  arms,  and  on  the 
next  day,  March  4th,  President  Lincoln's  second  inauguration 
was  celebrated  by  a  salute  from  the  rebel  guns  which  they  had 
captured.  On  the  afternoon  and  night  of  the  6th,  the  Union 
army  crossed  the  Great  Pedee  river,  and  in  four  columns,  with 
outlying  cavalry,  swept  through  a  belt  of  country  forty  miles 
wide,  entering  Laurel  Hill,  North  Carolina,  on  the  8th,  and 
reaching  Fayetteville  on  the  llth.  Thus  far,  the  results  of  the 
campaign  had  been,  14  captured  cities,  hundreds  of  miles  of 
railroads,  and  thousands  of  bales  of  cotton  destroyed,  85  cannon, 
4000  prisoners,  25,000  horses,  mules,  etc.,  and  15,000  refugees, 
black  and  white,  set  at  liberty.  After  a  rest  of  two  days,  Sher- 
man moved  moderately  forward,  meeting,  fighting,  and  defeating 
the  enemy  under '  Johnston,  at  Averysboro,  on  the  16th,  and 
again,  on  the  19th,  at  Bentonville ;  finally,  pressing  them  back 
so  swiftly  on  Smithfield,  on  the  20th  and  21st,  that  they  lost 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH    SHERMAN  101 

seven  guns  and  over  2000  prisoners,  while  deserters  poured  in 
by  hundreds.  On  the  same  day  Schofield  occupied  Goldsboro, 
General  Terry  secured  Cox's  bridge,  and  successfully  pon- 
tooned  the  Keuse  river,  and  General  Sherman  issued  a  congratu- 
latory order  to  his  troops,  in  which  he  says :  "  After  a  march  of 
the  most  extraordinary  character,  nearly  five  hundred  miles, 
over  swamps  and  rivers,  deemed  impassable  to  others,  at  the 
most  inclement  season  of  the  year,  and  drawing  our  chief  sup- 
plies from  a  poor  and  wasted  country,  we  reach  our  destination 
in  good  health  and  condition — you  shall  now  have  rest,  and  all 
the  supplies  that  can  be  brought  from  the  rich  granaries  and 
storehouses  of  our  magnificent  country,  before  again  embarking 
on  new  and  untried  dangers."  The  entire  Union  losses  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners,  on  this  sixty  days'  march  from  Savan- 
nah to  Goldsboro,  had  been  less  than  2500  men.  Leaving  his 
men  to  recruit  their  energies,  Sherman  went  to  City  Point, 
where,  on  the  27th  of  March,  he  had  an  interview  with  General 
Grant  and  the  President,  returning  to  his  camp  the  next  day. 

His  army  was  now  only  separated  from  Grant's  by  a  distance 
of  150  miles,  traversed  by  a  railroad  which  could  easily  be  put 
in  order  for  immediate  use  ;  and,  between  the  two,  as  between 
the  upper  and  the  nether  millstone,  the  enemy  were  to  be 
crushed  by  a  blow,  which,  as  yet,  neither  army  hastened  to  give. 

On  the  10th  of  April,  Sherman's  army,  thoroughly  rested  and 
fully  equipped,  moved  on  Smithfield,  which  they  entered  on  the 
following  morning.  Johnston,  who  commanded  a  large  body 
of  troops,  retired  across  the  Neuse,  burning  the  bridge  behind, 
and  retreating  by  railroad.  Sherman's  men,  struggling  through 
roads  so  muddy  that  they  were  obliged  to  corduroy  every  foot 
of  them,  were  cheered  by  the  news  of  Lee's  surrender,  which 
met  them  en  route,  and  leaving  their  trains,  they  pushed  ahead 
with  redoubled  energy,  to  Raleigh,  which  they  entered  in  the 


1Q2  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

earlv  morning  of  the  15th.  Sherman  now  took  measures  to  cut 
off  Johnston's  retreat,  when  the  latter  (knowing,  what  Sherman 
did  not,  that  Salisbury  had  been  captured  by  the  Union  General 
Stoneman  on  the  12th,  thereby  closing  his  own  avenue  of  escape 
to  the  southward)  made  overtures  for  surrender.  Interviews 
between  the  two  generals,  on  the  17th  and  18th,  (at  the  latter 
of  which  General  J.  C.  Breckinridge,  then  acting  Secretary  of 
War  of  the  Confederacy,  was  present)  resulted  in  the  drawing 
up  of  a  joint  memorandum,  to  be  submitted  to  the  Presidents  of 
the  United  States  and  of  the  Confederate  Government,  and  if 
approved  by  them  to  be  acted  upon.  The  points  of  this  memo- 
randum were  briefly  as  follows :  (1)  the  contending  armies  to 
remain  in  statu  quo,  hostilities  not  to  be  resumed  until  within 
forty-eight  hours  after  due  notice  from  either  side;  (2)  the 
Confederate  armies  then  in  the  field  to  disband,  march  to 
their  respective  State  capitals,  there  to  deposit  their  arms  and 
public  property,  and  each  man  to  execute  an  agreement  to  cease 
from  acts  of  war.  The  number  of  arms,  etc.,  to  be  reported  to 
the  chief  of  ordnance  at  Washington,  subject  to  the  future  ac- 
tion of  the  United  States  Congress,  and,  meanwhile,  to  be  used 
only  to  maintain  peace  and  order  within  the  borders  of  the 
several  States;  (3)  the  recognition,  by  the  Executive  of  the 
United  States,  of  the  several  State  governments,  on  their  officers 
and  legislatures  taking  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States ;  and  the  legitimacy  of  any  conflicting 
State  governments  to  which  the  war  may  have  given  rise,  to  be 
submitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States ;  (4)  the 
re-establishment  of  all  Federal  courts  in  the  several  States,  with 
powers  as  defined  by  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  Congress; 
(5)  the  guarantee,  by  the  Executive,  to  the  people  of  all  the  States, 
of  their  political  rights  and  franchises,  as  well  as  personal  and 
propel -y  rights,  according  to  the  Constitutions  of  the  United 


WILLIAM   TECUMSEH   SHERMAN.  103 

States  and  the  several  States;  (6)  the  people  not  to  be  dis- 
turbed by  the  United  States  Government,  on  account  of  the  late 
war,  so  long  as  they  lived  in  peace,  obeyed  their  local  laws,  and 
abstained  from  acts  of  armed  hostility ;  (7)  on  the  above  condi- 
tions, a  general  amnesty.  This  agreement,  which  was  evidently 
entered  into  by  Sherman  under  the  full  conviction  that  slavery 
was  dead  and  the  rebellion  totally  crushed,  was  received  at 
Washington,  by  the  Cabinet,  just  at  the  moment  that  their 
hearts  and  the  public  mind  were  intensely  agitated  and  confused 
by  the  recent  atrocious  assassination  of  President  Lincoln,  the 
attempt  on  Secretary  Seward's  life,  and  the  other  startling 
events  of  the  day.  To  men  in  such  a  frame  of  mind,  and 
when  read  by  the  light  of  surrounding  circumstances,  its  terms 
seemed  unpardonably  liberal.  Forgetting  that  his  action  coin- 
cided exactly  with  the  published  policy  of  the  late  President 
(in  his  permission  [April  7th]  to  the  Virginia  legislature  to 
meet  and  adopt  such  measures  as  should  withdraw  the  State 
troops  from  the  Confederate  force) ;  and  forgetting,  also,  that 
Sherman,  in  his  recent  great  march,  had  been  completely  isola- 
ted from  the  outside  world,  and  was  ignorant  of  any  change  of 
policy  on  the  part  of  the  new  President — the  Cabinet  set  the 
seal  of  its  disapproval  upon  the  course  which  the  gallant  chief- 
tain had  submitted  to  their  consideration.  Yet,  it  is  worthy  of 
note,  that,  as  events  have  since  turned,  the  relations  of  these 
States  to  the  Union  have  been  based  upon  the  identical  policy 
which  Sherman's  course  then  indicated.  General  Grant  went, 
therefore,  immediately  to  Ealeigh,  where  he  arrived  on  the  24th, 
and  Sherman  promptly  notified  the  enemy  of  the  termination 
of  the  armistice  at  the  end  of  forty-eight  hours.  Johnston  im- 
mediately signified  to  Sherman  his  desire  for  a  conference,  which 
resulted,  on  the  26th,  in  the  surrender  of  the  Confederate  army 
to  General  Sherman,  on  the  terms  awarded  to  General  Lee. 


104  MEN   OF   OUR  DAY. 

30,000  soldiers,  15,000  muskets,  108  pieces  of  artillery  were 
surrendered,  and  the  war  of  the  rebellion  was  virtually  ended. 
On  the  4th  of  May,  the  greater  part  of  his  army  moved  northward 
to  Eichmond  and  Washington,  where  they  were  reviewed,  May 
24th,  1865,  and  about  two  thirds  of  them  disbanded,  the  war 
having  so  nearly  closed,  as  to  render  their  further  presence  in 
the  field  unnecessary. 

From  June  27th,  1865,  to  August  llth,  1866,  General  Sherman 
held  the  command  of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi 
(including  Ohio,  Missouri,  and  Arkansas),  with  headquarters 
at  St.  Louis ;  and,  from  the  latter  date,  of  the  Military  Division 
of  Missouri,  which  command  he  now  retains.  He  was  also 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Board  to  make  recommendations  for 
brevets  to  general  officers,  March  14th  to  24th,  1866 ;  and  was 
sent  on  a  special  mission  to  Mexico,  in  November  and  Decem- 
ber, 1866.  On  the  25th  of  July,  1866,  by  vote  of  Congress,  he 
was  created  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
ARMY,  a  deserved  acknowledgment  of  his  valor,  skill,  and 
patriotism.  On  the  19th  of  the  same  month,  he  received  from 
Dartmouth  College,  New  Hampshire,  the  honorary  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Laws,  a  compliment  not  unfitting  one  who,  while 
wielding  the  sword,  has  displayed  a  singularly  acute  and  com- 
prehensive understanding  of  the  principles  of  civil  and  politi- 
cal law. 

This  great  soldier  is  tall  and  slender  in  person,  vigorous  and 
enduring  in  action,  and  nervous  in  temperament,  with  manners 
somewhat  brusque  and  austere,  and  a  quick,  rervous  way  of 
speaking.  He  is  a  great  smoker,  requires  but  little  sleep,  and 
is  a  close  and  somewhat  abstracted  thinker.  As  a  writer,  he 
expresses  himself  with  remarkable  terseness  and  force,  often 
condensing  a  whole  volume  of  military  law  in  a  single  sentence. 
With  an  imperious  will,  which  naturally  brooks  no  control,  he 


WILLIAM    TECUMSEH   SHEBMAN".  105 

always  recognizes,  that  "  unhesitating  obedience  is  the  first  duty 
of  the  soldier."  He  well  merits  the  commendation  bestowed 
upon  him  by  the  ablest  European  military  critics,  "  of  being  the 
most  complete  master  of  logistics,  and  of  the  management  of 
the  movable  column,  of  modern  times."  He  is  one  of  the  very 
few  men,  of  whom  not  a  dozen  are  to  be  found  in  a  century, 
who  can  handle  with  masterly  skill,  and  without  confusion,  an 
army  of  a  hundred  thousand  men  or  more.  His  soldiers  idolize 
him,  for  they  have  ample  evidence  that  their  every  want  and 
comfort  are  looked  after  by  the  gruff  chieftain,  who  is  always 
willing  to  share  their  privations  and  their  dangers.  His  patriot- 
ism is  of  the  purest  type,  untouched,  as  yet,  by  the  breath  of 
slander,  or  the  defiling  slime  of  political  strife. 


VICE-ADMIRAL    DAVID    D.    PORTER. 


fF  courage  and  splendid  fighting  qualities  are  inherited, 
Admiral  Porter  should  be,  as  he  is,  one  of  the  best  fight- 
ing men  in  the  navy,  for  he  is  the  youngest  son  of  that 
old  Viking,  Commodore  -David  Porter,  who,  in  the  war 
of  1812,  was  the  terror  of  the  British  marine,  and  who,  while, 
unlike  Semmes  of  the  Alabama,  he  never  let  slip  an  opportunity 
of  engaging  a  war  vessel  of  the  enemy,  even  if  she  carried  twice 
his  armament,  made  worse  havoc  with  their  mercantile  marine 
than  Semmes  did  with  ours.  The  career  of  the  frigate  Essex, 
and  her  untoward  fate,  made  the  old  commodore  a  hero  for  the 
rest  of  his  life.  After  the  close  of  the  war  he  served  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  Navy  Commissioners  from  1815  to  1823, 
but  the  longing  for  the  sea  was  too  strong  for  him  to  overcome, 
and  an  opportunity  occurring  for  a  cruise  to  destroy  the  pirates 
who  were  infesting  the  West  Indies,  he  gladly  took  command, 
and  served  two  years,  when,  having  punished  with  some  severity 
an  insult  offered  by  the  authorities  of  one  of  the  islands,  he  was 
called  home,  and  a  naval  court  martial  having  decided  that  he 
had  transcended  his  authority,  he  was  suspended  from  command 
for  six  months.  He  resigned  soon  after,  and  for  the  next  four 
years  was  commander-in-chief  of  the  naval  forces  of  Mexico. 
Returning  to  the  United  States  in  1829  he  was  appointed  consul 

general  to  the  Barbary  powers,  and  thence  transferred  first  as 
106 


VICE-ADMIRAL    DAVID   D.    PORTER.  107 

charge  and  afterward  as  minister,  to  Constantinople,  where  he 
remained  till  hia  death  in  1843. 

His  youngest  son,  DAVID  D.  PORTER,  was  born  in  Philadel- 
phia about  1814,  and,  while  still  a  child,  accompanied  his  father 
in  his  cruise  after  the  pirates  in  1823-25.  We  believe  he  was 
also  with  him  in  Mexico. 

On  the  2d  of  February,  1829,  he  received  his  warrant  as  mid- 
shipman, being  appointed  from  Pennsylvania.  He  was  ordered 
to  the  frigate  Constellation,  thirty-six  guns,  stationed  in  the 
Mediterranean,  under  Commodore  Biddle  and  Captain  Wads- 
worth. 

In  1831,  the  Constellation  was  ordered  home,  and  laid  up  in 
ordinary  at  Norfolk,  and  Porter  was  granted  leave  of  absence, 
after  which,  in  1832,  he  was  ordered  back  to  the  Mediterranean 
on  the  new  flag-ship  United  States,  a  forty-four  gun  frigate, 
under  Captain  Nicholson,  Commodore  Patterson  having  charge 
of  the  squadron.  On  the  3d  of  July,  1835,  he  passed  his  ex- 
amination, and  was  recommended  for  early  promotion.  During 
the  years  1836  to  1841,  he  was  appointed  on  the  Coast  Survey 
and  exploring  expeditions,  and  stood  on  the  list  of  passed  mid- 
shipmen at  the  following  numbers: — January  1,  1838,  No.  Ill; 
January  1,  1839,  No.  84;  January  1,  1840,  No.  61,  and  January 
1,  1841,  at  No.  48. 

On  the  27th  of  February,  1841,  he  was  commissioned  a 
lieutenant,  and  ordered  to  the  frigate  Congress,  a  forty-four 
gun  vessel-of-war.  He  then  rejoined  the  Mediterranean  squad- 
ron; and  after  a  short  time  this  vessel  was  ordered  on  the 
Brazilian  station.  He  still  retained  his  position  on  the  same 
craft,  and  was  on  her  more  than  four  years ;  for  his  name  is  re- 
corded as  one  of  her  lieutenants  on  the  rolls  of  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment for  the  years  commencing  January  1, 1842, 1843,  1844,  and 
1845.  He  had  not  risen  much  during  these  years ;  for  on  the 


103  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

first  mentioned  date  his  name  stood  at  N. ,  267  on  the  list  of 
lieutenants ;  on  the  second  at  No.  258  ;  on  the  third  at  No.  245, 
and  on  the  last  at  No.  232.  At  the  latter  end  of  1845  he  was 
attached  to  the  Observatory  at  Washington  on  special  duty, 
which  position  he  still  held  at  the  commencement  and  during  a 
portion  of  1846.  He  then  stood  No.  228  on  the  list.  On 
January  1,  1847,  after  having  performed  some  brilliant  exploits 
in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  during  the  Mexican  war,  he  is  recorded 
as  being  in  charge  of  the  rendezvous  at  New  Orleans,  from 
which  he  was  detached  to  again  join  the  Coast  Survey,  on 
which  service  his  name  is  recorded  on  January  1,  1848.  Dur- 
ing this  year  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  schooner 
Petrel,  engaged  on  this  survey. 

In  February,  1849,  he  left  New  York  as  the  commander  of 
the  steamship  Panama,  the  third  of  the  vessels  constituting  the 
line  of  American  mail  steamers  first  established  for  service  on 
the  Pacific.  The  pioneer  passage  of  the  Panama  was  attended 
with  incidents  which  displayed  on  the  part  of  the  commander 
courage,  caution,  patience,  and  thoroughly  competent  qualifica- 
tions for  the  post  to  which  he  had  been  assigned.  After  taking 
the  vessel  safely  to  Panama  Bay,  he  was  ordered  to  New  York 
to  the  command  of  the  mail  steamer  Georgia,  which  command 
he  held  during  the  latter  part  of  1850,  the  years  1851  and  1852, 
and  a  great  portion  of  1853. 

Amongst  the  many  gallant  exploits  of  Admiral  Porter  was 
that  of  running  the  steamer  Crescent  City  (appropriately  named) 
into  the  harbor  of  Havana,  during  the  excitement  between  the 
two  countries  relative  to  the  ship  Black  Warrior.  The  Spanish 
government  had  refused  to  permit  any  United  States  vessel  to 
enter  that  port.  Buiming  under  the  shotted  guns  of  Moro  Cas- 
tle, he  was  ordered  to  halt.  He  promptly  replied  that  he  car- 
ried the  United  States  flag  and  the  United  States  mails,  and,  by 


VICE-ADMIRAL    DAVID   D.    PORTER.  109 

the  Eternal,  lie  would  go  in ;  and  he  did,  the  Habaneros  fearing 
to  fire  upon  him.  He  said  afterwards  that  he  intended  firing 
his  six-poundsr  at  them  once  in  defiance,  after  which  he  would 
haul  down  his  flag.  During  the  Mexican  war,  Admiral  Porter, 
then  a  lieutenant,  took  a  very  active  part  in  the  naval  portion 
of  that  conflict.  He  was  the  executive  officer  and  first 
lieutenant  under  the  famous  Commodore  Tatnall,  who  had 
charge  of  the  mosquito  fleet  in  the  waters  of  the  Gulf.  Their 
adventures  before  Vera  Cruz  are  not  likely  soon  to  be  forgotten. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1854,  he  is  recorded  absent  again  on 
leave,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  year  awaiting  orders. 
His  name  now  stood  at  No.  138.  During  1855  he  was  ordered 
to  the  command  of  the  storeship  Supply,  and  held  this  com- 
mand during  the  next  year,  until  February,  1857.  He  was 
then  ordered  on  shore  duty,  and  on  the  1st  of  January,  1860, 
was  at  the  Navy  Yard  at  Portsmouth  as  third  in  command. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1861,  he  was  under  orders  to 
join  the  Coast  Survey  on  the  Pacific,  but,  fortunately,  had  not 
left  when  the  rebellion  broke  out.  His  name  at  this  time  stood 
number  six  on  the  list  of  lieutenants.  The  resignation  of 
several  naval  traitors  left  room  for  his  advancement,  and  the 
"Naval  Eegister"  for  August  31,  1861,  places  him  number 
seventy-seven  on  the  list  of  commanders,  with  twenty  others 
between  him  and  the  next  grade  of  rank  below.  He  was  then 
placed  in  command  of  the  steam  sloop-of-war  Powhatan,  a  vessel 
of  about  twenty-five  hundred  tons,  and  armed  with  eleven  guns. 
In  her  he  took  part  in  one  section  of  the  blockading  squadron, 
and  left  that  ship  to  take  the  special  charge  of  the  mortar  expe- 
dition. The  active  part  he  took  in  the  reduction  of  the  forts 
below  New  Orleans  will  make  his  name  ever  memorable  in 
connection  with  the  mortar  fleet,  or  "  bummers,"  as  the  sailors 
term  them.  After  the  cap  'ire  of  New  Orleans  he,  with  his 


MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

fleet,  went  up  the  Mississippi  river,  and  was  engaged  in  several 
affairs  on  that  river,  including  that  of  Vicksbuig  From  that 
place  he  was  ordered  to  the  James  river,  and  returned  in  the 
Octorara.  When  off  Charleston,  on  his  way  to  Fortress  Monroe, 
he  fell  in  with  and  captured  the  Anglo-rebel  steamer  Tubal 
Cain.  It  was  at  first  supposed  that  he  would  have  been  placed 
in  command  of  the  James  river  flotilla ;  but  from  some  cause 
this  plan  was  changed.  He  was  allowed  leave  of  absence  to 
recruit  his  health,  while  his  mortar  fleet  was  engaged  on  the 
Chesapeake  and  in  front  of  Baltimore. 

In  October,  1862,  he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
Mississippi  gunboat  flotilla,  as  successor  to  Commodore  Davis, 
with  the  rank  of  acting  rear-admiral,  and  was  required  to 
co-operate  with  General  Grant  in  the  assault  and  siege  of  Ticks- 
burg.  His  services  in  that  siege  form  a  record  of  which  any 
man  might  be  proud.  His  squadron  was  a  large  one,  composed 
of  vessels  of  all  sizes,  many  of  them  constructed  under  his  own 
supervision,  and  a  considerable  number  were  armed  steamers, 
plated  with  from  three  to  four  and  a  half  inches  of  iron  and 
capable  of  resisting  the  shot  of  any  but  the  heaviest  batteries. 
His  previous  very  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Mississippi  river 
was  of  great  advantage  to  him  in  this  service,  as  well  as 
in  his  operations  previously  and  subsequently  in  the  lower 
Mississippi.  In  General  Grant  he  evidently  found  a  co-worker 
after  his  own  heart,  for  imperious  and  exacting  as  the  admiral's 
temper  is,  they  had  no  difficulties,  and  he  entered  most  heartily 
into  all  the  general's  efforts  to  find  a  suitable  point  for  assailing 
successfully  the  Gibraltar  of  the  rebellion.  Previous  to  the 
coming  of  General  Grant's  army  to  Young's  Point,  Admiral 
Porter  had  cleared  the  lower  Yazoo  of  torpedoes,  losing  one 
gunboat  (the  Cairo)  in  the  attempt;  had  assisted  General  Sher- 
man to  the  utmost  of  his  ability  in  his  attack  upon  Chickasaw 


VICE-ADMIRAL    DAVID    D.    PORTER.  HI 

Bluffs ;  and  accompanying  General  McClernand  in  his  expedi- 
tion to  the  post  of  Arkansas  and  the  White  river,  had  bom- 
barded the  fort  (Fort  Hindman)  till  it  surrendered,  and  broken 
up  the  other  small  forts  and  driven  out  the  rebel  steamers  on- 
the  White  river.  He  also  succeeded  in  blockading  eleven  rebel 
steamers  in  the  Yazoo.  His  activity  during  the  next  six 
months -was  incessant;  now  sending  gunboats  and  rams  down 
the  river  past  the  batteries  of  Yicksburg  to  destroy  the  rebel 
rams  and  steamers  and  capture  the  supplies  intended  for  Vicks- 
burg  and  Port  Hudson ;  then  firing  at  the  upper  or  lower 
batteries  of  Vicksburg,  cutting  the  levee  at  Yazoo  pass  and  en- 
deavoring to  force  a  passage  through  the  Yallobusha  and 
Tallahatchee  into  the  Yazoo ;  and  failing  in  this,  cutting  his 
way  through  the  labyrinth  of  bayous  and  creeks  to  attain  the 
same  end.  These  exercises  were  varied  by  sending  occasional- 
ly a  coal  barge  fitted  up  as  a  monitor,  past  the  batteries, 
greatly  to  the  fright  of  the  rebels,  who,  after  concentrating  the 
fires  of  their  batteries  on  the  contrivance  without  effect,  were 
so  badly  scared  as  to  destroy  the  best  gunboat  (the  Indianola 
taken  from  Lieutenant  Commander  BrowA)  they  had  on  the 
river,  from  fear  of  its  capture  by  this  formidable  monitor. 
Then  came  the  hazardous  experiment  of  running  gunboats 
past  the  batteries,  twice  repeated,  to  aid  General  Grant  in  his 
movement  to  approach  Vicksburg  from  below  and  from  the 
rear.  The  success  of  these  enterprises,  only  two  transports  out 
of  sixteen  or  eighteen,  and  none  of  the  gunboats,  being  destroyed, 
was  remarkable,  and  of  itself  evinced  great  skill  and  caution  on 
the  part  of  the  admiral.  The  fight  at  Grand  Gulf  was  a  severe 
one,  and  not  successful,  but  the  night  following  the  batteries 
were  run,  and  the  troops  ferried  over  to  Bruinsburg,  from 
whence  they  marched  to  Jackson  and  to  the  rear  of  Yicksburg. 
Meanwhile  a  part  of  the  spuadron  had  been  engaged  in  aiding 


MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

Sherman  in  making  a  demonstration  on  Haines'  Bluff  to  draw 
off  the  attention  of  the  rebels  from  Grant's  approach  by  the 

south. 

"When,  on  the  19th  of  May,  Grant's  army  made  their  first 
assault  on  the  rear  of  Vicksburg,  and  on  the  22d  of  May,  when 
the  second  assault  was  made,  Admiral  Porter  maintained  a 
heavy  fire  in  front,  to  distract  the  attention  of  the  rebels ;  and 
during  the  whole  siege,  whenever  a  ball  or  shell  could  be 
thrown  from  his  squadron  either  above  or  below  the  city  with 
good  effect,  it  was  promptly  and  accurately  hurled.  The  sur- 
render of  Yicksburg,  on  the  4th  of  July,  and  of  Port  Hudson 
on  the  9th,  opened  the  Mississippi  to  our  fleet  and  to  merchant 
steamers,  and  thenceforth  the  fleet  on  the  Mississippi  acted 
only  as  an  armed  river  patrol.  The  duties  of  the  squadron  in 
these  respects  were,  however,  somewhat  arduous  for  a  time. 
The  Tennessee  and  Cumberland  rivers,  and  the  Ohio,  were  in- 
cluded within  its  cruising  ground  ;  and  the  pursuit  of  Morgan's 
expedition  to  Bufnngton  island,  and  the  repressing  of  occasional 
rebel  raids,  kept  them  almost  constantly  on  the  alert. 

Early  in  Marcji,  1864,  Admiral  Porter  ascended  the  Eed 
river  to  co-operate  with  General  Banks  in  his  expedition  to 
break  up  the  rebel  posts  on  that  river,  and  penetrate  by  that 
route  into  Texas.  The  expedition  was  at  first  successful,  and 
captured  the  forts  of  the  enemy,  and  their  principal  towns,  in  a 
series  of  brief  engagements.  But,  as  they  ascended  the  river, 
the  greed  of  gain  seemed  to  take  possession  of  the  squadron, 
and  large  quantities  of  cotton  were  gathered  up  from  both 
shores  of  the  river  and  brought  on  board  the  gunboats  ;  and 
they  were  forced  so  far  up  the  falling  stream,  that  they  were  in 
great  danger  of  being  unable  to  return,  and  so  of  becoming  a  prey 
to  the  rebels.  The  army,  too,  had  been  seriously  repulsed,  and 
had  made  a  somewhat  hasty  retreat  as  far  as  Grand  Ecore. 


VICE-ADMIRAL     DAVID    D.    PORTER.  113 

From  this  point  downward  the  squadron  was  in  constant 
trouble — the  larger  vessels  getting  aground,  hard  and  fast, 
several  times  a  day,  and  being  compelled  to  tie  up  at  night ; 
harassed  almost  every  hour  by  small  bodies  of  rebel  troops, 
whom  they  could  only  keep  off  by  a  free  use  of  canister  and 
grape  shot ;  not  making  more  than  thirty  miles  a  day,  and  the 
river  constantly  falling.  At  length,  thirty  miles  below  Grand 
Ecore,  the  Eastport,  the  largest  vessel  of  the  squadron,  stuck 
fast  and  hard  upon  the  rocks  in  the  channel,  and  could  not  be 
moved ;  and  the  admiral  was  compelled  to  give  orders  for  her 
destruction.  The  attempt  made  by  the  rebels  to  board  the 
Cricket,  another  of  his  gunboats,  at  this  juncture,  was  so  se- 
verely punished,  that  they  disappeared,  and  were  not  seen  again 
until  the  mouth  of  Cane  river,  twenty  miles  below,  was  reached. 
Here  was  a  rebel  battery  of  eighteen  guns,  and  a  severe  fight 
ensued.  The  Cricket,  which  was  but  lightly  armed  (being,  as 
the  men  were  in  the  habit  of  saying,  only  "tin  clad"),  was  very 
badly  cut  up,  almost  every  shot  going  through  her,  two  of  her 
guns  being  disabled,  and  half  her  crew,  and  her  pilot,  and  chief 
engineer,  being  either  killed  or  badly  wounded.  Here  the 
splendid  personal  bravery  of  Admiral  Porter  proved  their  sal- 
vation. He  improvised  gunners  from  the  negroes  on  board, 
put  an  assistant  in  the  place  of  the  chief  engineer,  took  the  helm 
himself,  and  ran  past  the  battery  under  a  terrific  fire,  which  he 
returned  steadily  with  such  of  his  guns  as  were  still  serviceable. 
The  other  gunboats,  though  sadly  injured,  at  length  got  by — 
the  Champion,  only,  being  so  much  disabled  as  to  be  unable  to 
go  on,  and  being  destroyed  by  order  of  Admiral  Porter. 

On  reaching  Alexandria,  matters  were  still  worse.  In  the 
low  stage  of  water,  the  rapids  were  impassable  by  the  gun- 
boats, and  at  first  their  destruction  seemed  inevitable.  Rut 
the  engineer  of  the  Nineteenth  army  corps,  Lieutenant-Colonel 


H4-  MEN   OP   OUR   DAY. 

Joseph  Bailey  (afterward  promoted  to  the  rank  of  brigadier- 
general  for  this  great  service),  devised  a  way  of  floating  them 
over  the  rapids,  by  the  construction  of  a  series  of  wing-dams 
partly  across  the  river  at  several  points.  The  task  was  hercu- 
lean, but  it  was  skilfully  and  speedily  accomplished,  and  by  the 
13th  of  May  all  the  gunboats  had  passed  the  barrier  and  were 
on  their  way  to  the  Mississippi  river,  still  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  distant.  Before  this  time,  however,  two  small  gunboats 
and  two  transports,  laden  with  troops,  were  attacked  by  the 
rebels,  and  both  the  transports  and  one  gunboat  captured,  and 
the  other  burned.  Admiral  Porter  returned  to  his  patrol  of 
the  Mississippi,  from  whence,  soon  after,  he  was  transferred  to 
the  command  of  the  North  Atlantic  squadron.  Here  he  was 
busy,  for  a  time,  with  the  removal  of  torpedoes  in  the  naviga- 
ble waters  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina ;  in  capturing  block- 
ade runners ;  and  cruising  after  the  pirates  who  seized  our 
merchant  steamers.  But  his  restless  activity  and  energy  could 
not  be  satisfied  without  striking  a  blow  at  the  chief  port  of 
entry  for  which  the  blockade  runners  aimed,  and  into  which  at 
least  seven  out  of  every  ten  succeeded  in  entering.  Wilming- 
ton, North  Carolina,  had,  during  the  whole  war,  been  one  of 
the  chief  seats  of  the  contraband  trade  of  the  rebels,  and  the 
blockade  runners  had  been  more  successful  in  eluding  the  vigi- 
lance, or  escaping  from  the  pursuit  of  the  blockading  squadron 
there,  than  either  at  Charleston  or  Mobile.  This  was  due  in 
part  to  its  position,  and  the  defences  of  the  harbor.  Five  forts 
protected  the  entrance  to  the  estuary  of  Cape  Fear  river ;  and 
while  they  were  sufficient  to  prevent  any  access  to  the  river  by 
the  blockading  squadron,  they  effectually  shielded  the  block- 
ade runners,  who  succeeded  in  effecting  an  entrance,  by  either 
inlet,  to  the  estuary.  Of  these  works,  Fort  Fisher,  one  of  the 
most  formidable  earthworks  on  the  coast,  was  the  chief ;  and  it 


VICE-ADMIRAL   DAVID   D.   PORTER.  115 

was  to  the  reduction  of  this,  that  the  attention  of  Bear-  Admiral 
Porter*  was  directed.  The  Navy  Department,  which  had  been 
instrumental  in  his  transfer  to  the  North  Atlantic  squadron, 
heartily  seconded  his  efforts  ;  and  an  arrangement  having  been 
made  with  General  Grant  for  the  necessary  land  forces  to  co- 
operate with  the  squadron,  a  fleet  of  naval  vessels,,  surpassing 
in  numbers  and  equipments  any  that  had  been  assembled  during 
the  war,  was  collected  with  dispatch  in  Hampton  Koads.  Vari- 
ous circumstances  delayed  the  attack  until  the  24th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1864.  What  followed,  is  best  related  in  the  report  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

"On  that  day  (December  24),  Bear- Admiral  Porter,  with  a  bom- 
barding force  of  thirty-seven  vessels,  five  of  which  were  iron- 
clad, and  a  reserve  force  of  nineteen  vessels,  attacked  the  forts 
at  the  mouth  of  Cape  Fear  river,  and  silenced  them  in  one  hour 
and  a  quarter ;  but  there  being  no  troops  to  make  an  assault  or 
attempt  to  possess  them,  nothing  beyond  the  injury  inflicted  on 
the  works  and  the  garrison  was  accomplished  by  the  bombard- 
ment. A  renewed  attack  was  made  the  succeeding  day,  but 
with  scarcely  better  results.  The  fleet  shelled  the  forts  during 
the  day  and  silenced  them,  but  no  assault  was  made,  or  attempt- 
ed, by  the  troops  which  had  been  disembarked  for  that  purpose. 
Major-General  Butler,  who  commanded  the  co-operating  force, 
after  a  reconnoissance,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  place 
could  not  be  carried  by  an  assault.  He  therefore  ordered  a  re- 
embarkation,  and  informing  Eear-  Admiral  Porter  of  his  intention, 
returned  with  his  command  to  Hampton  Eoads.  Immediate 
information  of  the  failure  of  the  expedition  was  forwarded  to 
the  department  by  Bear- Admiral  Porter,  who  remained  in  the 

*  He  was  made  full  rear-admiral  for  his  gallant  services  in  the  siege  of 
Vieksburg,  his  commission  dating  from  July  4th,  1863. 


MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

vicinity  with  his  entire  fleet,  awaiting  the  needful  military  aid- 
Aware  of  the  necessity  of  reducing  these  works,  and  of  the 
great  importance  whicli  the  Department  attatched  to  closing  the 
port  of  Wilmington,  and  confident  that  with  adequate  military 
co-operation  the  fort  could  be  carried,  he  asked  for  such  co- 
operation, and  earnestly  requested  that  the  enterprise  should  not 
be  abandoned.  In  this  the  department  and  the  President  fully 
concurred.  On  the  suggestion  of  the  President,  Lieutenant- 
General  Grant  was  advised  of  the  confidence  felt  by  Eear- Admi- 
ral Porter  that  he  could  obtain  complete  success,  provided  he 
should  be  sufficiently  sustained.  Such  military  aid  was  there- 
fore invited  as  would  insure  the  fall  of  Fort  Fisher. 

A  second  military  force  was  promptly  detailed,  composed  of 
about  8,500  men,  under  the  command  of  Major-General  A.  H. 
Terry,  and  sent  forward.  This  officer  arrived  off  Fort  Fisher, 
on  the  13th  of  January.  Offensive  operations  were  at  once 
resumed  by  the  naval  force,  and  the  troops  were  landed  and 
intrenched  themselves,  while  a  portion  of  the  fleet  bombarded 
the  works.  These  operations  were  continued  throughout  the 
14th  with  an  increased  number  of  vessels.  The  15th  was  the 
day  decided  upon  for  an  assault.  During  the  forenoon  of  that 
day,  forty -four  vessels  poured  an  incessant  fire  into  the  rebel 
forts.  There  was,  besides,  a  force  of  fourteen  vessels  in  reserve. 
At  3  p.  M.,  the  signal  for  the  assault  was  made.  Desperate  fight- 
ing ensued,  traverse  after  traverse  was  taken,  and  by  10  P.  M. 
the  works  were  all  carried,  and  the  flag  of  the  Union  floated 
over  them.  Fourteen  hundred  sailors  and  marines  were  landed, 
and  participated  in  the  direct  assault. 

Seventy-five  guns,  many  of  them  superb  rifle  pieces,  and 
1,900  prisoners,  were  the  immediate  fruits  and  trophies  of  the 
victory ;  but  the  chief  value  and  ultimate  benefit  of  this  grand 
achievement,  consisted  in  closing  the  main  gate  through  which 


VICE-ADMIRAL    DAVID   D.   PORTER.  117 

the  insurgents  had  received  supplies  from  abroad,  and  sent  their 
own  products  to  foreign  markets  in  exchange. 

Light-draught  steamers  were  immediately  pushed  over  the 
bar,  and  into  the  river,  the  channel  of  which  was  speedily 
buoyed,  and  the  removal  of  torpedoes  forthwith  commenced. 
The  rebels  witnessing  the  fall  of  Fort  Fisher,  at  once  evacuated 
and  blew  up  Fort  Caswell,  destroyed  Bald  Head  Fort  and  Fort 
Shaw,  and  abandoned  Fort  Campbell.  Within  twenty-four 
hours  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Fisher,  the  main  defence  of  Cape 
Fear  river,  the  entire  chain  of  formidable  works  in  the  vicinity 
shared  its  fate,  placing  in  our  possession  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  guns  of  heavy  calibre. 

The  heavier  naval  vessels,  being  no  longer  needed  in  that 
quarter,  were  dispatched  in  different  directions — some  to  James 
river  and  northern  ports,  others  to  the  Gulf  or  the  South  Atlan- 
tic squadron.  An  ample  force  was  retained,  however,  to  sup- 
port the  small  but  brave  army  which  had  carried  the  traverses 
of  Fort  Fisher,  and  enable  it,  when  reinforcements  should  arrive, 
to  continue  the  movement  on  Wilmington. 

Great  caution  was  necessary  in  removing  the  torpedoes, 
always  formidable  in  harbors  and  internal  waters,  and  which 
have  been  more  destructive  to  our  naval  vessels  than  all  other 
means  combined. 

About  the  middle  of  February,  offensive  operations  were 
resumed  in  the  direction  of  Wilmington,  the  vessels  and  the 
troops  moving  up  the  river  in  concert.  Fort  Anderson,  an 
important  work,  was  evacuated  during  the  night  of  the  18th  of 
February,  General  Schofield  advancing  upon  this  fort  with 
8,000  men,  while  the  gunboats  attacked  it  by  water. 

On  the  21st,  the  rebels  were  driven  from  Fort  Strong,  which 
left  the  way  to  Wilmington  unobstructed,  and  on  the  22d  of 
February,  that  city  was  evacuated.  Two  hundred  and  twelve 


MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

guns  were  taken  in  the  works  from  the  entrance  to  Old  river, 
including  those  near  the  city,  and  thus  this  great  and  brilliant 
achievement  was  completed." 

The  failure  of  General  Butler  to  make  the  attack  when  ex- 
pected, though  it  would  seem  to  have  been  justified  by  the 
dictates  of  prudence,  and  to  have  been  in  no  respect  due  to  any 
want  of  personal  courage  or  daring  on  the  part  of  the  general, 
was  very  annoying  to  Bear- Admiral  Porter,  and  led  to  an  acri- 
monious correspondence  between  the  two  parties,  neither  of 
whom  were  at  all  chary  in  their  abuse  of  each  other. 

The  termination  of  the  war  soon  after  the  capture  of  "Wil- 
mington, left  little  more  active  service  for  the  North  Atlantic 
squadron,  and  its  reduction  and  consolidation  with  the  South 
Atlantic  squadron  followed  in  June,  1865.  Before  this,  how- 
ever, on  the  28th  of  April,  Eear- Admiral  Porter  had  been  re- 
lieved, at  his  own  request,  of  the  command  of  the  squadron, 
and  Acting  Eear- Admiral  Eadfbrd  succeeded  him.  In  the  few 
months'  leave  of  absence  granted  him,  he  visited  Europe. 

In  September,  1865,  when  the  Naval  Academy  was  brought 
back  to  Annapolis,  and  partially  re-organized,  Eear- Admiral 
Porter  was  appointed  its  superintendent,  and  has  remained  in 
that  position  since  that  time.  He  has  infused  new  energy  and 
character  into  the  instruction  there,  and  the  Academy  is  now  a 
worthy  counterpart  of  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point. 
On  the  25th  of  July,  1866,  Vice-Admiral  Farragut  being  pro- 
moted to  the  new  rank  of  Admiral,  Eear- Admiral  Porter  was 
advanced  to  the  Vice-admiralty. 

Vice- Admiral  Porter  is  a  man  of  fine,  commanding  personal 
appearance ;  of  medium  height,  handsome  features,  a  wiry,  mus- 
cular frame,  and  of  great  physical  power,  and  capacity  for 
endurance.  He  is  an  accomplished  scholar,  speaks  several 
languages  fluently,  and  plays  the  harp,  guitar,  and  other  musical 


VICE-ADMIRAL   DAVID  D.  PORTER.  119 

instruments  well.  He  is  of  imperious  and  exacting  temper,  and 
tolerates  nothing  short  of  the  most  rigid  obedience  to  his  orders ; 
yet  he  has  always  had  the  ability  to  rouse  the  highest  enthu- 
siasm in  the  men  under  his  command.  To  this,  undoubtedly, 
his  superb  personal  courage  largely  contributed.  No  man  in 
his  squadron  ever  doubted  that  the  admiral  was  ready  to  incur 
any  risk  which  he  asked  others  to  incur.  Indeed,  he  often  ex- 
posed himself  unwarrantably  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  Take 
him  all  in  all,  he  is  well  worthy  to  hand  down  to  posterity  the 
reputation  of  the  gallant  old  commodore  of  the  early  days  of 
the  republic. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  PHILIP   H.  SHERIDAN. 


1  INGE  General  Sheridan  became  famous,  the  honor  of 
being  his  birth-place  has  been  claimed  by  almost  as 
many  places  as  contended  for  the  same  honor  in  the 
case  of  Homer.  Enthusiastic  Irishmen  have  insisted  that 
he  first  saw  the  light  in  county  Cavan,  Ireland ;  the  army  regis- 
ter for  years  credited  Massachusetts  with  being  the  State  in 
which  he  was  born;  the  newspaper  correspondents,  knowing 
men  that  they  are,  have  traced  him  to  Albany,  New  York, 
where,  they  say,  he  was  born  while  his  parents  were  en  route  for 
Ohio ;  while  the  general  himself,  who  being  a  party  to  the 
transaction  should  know  something  about  it,  and  what  is  still 
more  to  the  purpose,  his  parents,  testify  that  he  was  born  in 
Somerset,  Perry  county,  Ohio,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1831.  His 
parents  were  then  recent  emigrants  from  county  Cavan,  Ireland, 
but  were  not  of  the  Scotch-Irish  stock  so  largely  predominent 
in  that  county,  but  belonged  to  one  of  the  original  Celtic  and 
Koman  Catholic  families  of  the  county.* 

Vain  has  been  the  attempt  to  find  any  of  those  incidents 
which  foreshadow  greatness,  in  the  boyhood  of  the  future 
cavalry  general.  He  was  a  wild,  roguish,  fun-loving  Irish  boy, 
probably  fond  of  horses,  though  the  Rev.  P.  C.  Headley's  story 
about  his  riding  a  half  broken  vicious  horse  when  only  five  years 
old  is  pronounced  by  the  general  himself  an  entire  fabrication.  He 
120 


MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   H.   SHERIDAN.  121 

went  to  school  to  an  Irish  schoolmaster  for  a  time  when  about 
ten  or  twelve  years  old,  one  of  Goldsmith's  sort : — 

"  A  man  severe  he  was,  and  stern  to  view ; 
I  knew  him  well,  and  every  truant  knew ; 
Well  had  the  boding  tremblers  learned  to  trace 
The  day's  disasters  in  his  morning  face." 

This  pedagogue  gave  the  mischievous  urchin  his  full  share 
of  the  birch,  incited  thereto,  as  one  of  Sheridan's  schoolmates 
affirms,  by  the  recollection  of  an  occurrence  in  which  Phil  got 
the  better  of  him.  The  story  is  substantially  this  :  when  Sheri- 
dan was  about  eleven  or  twelve  years  old,  on  a  cold  winter's 
morning,  two  of  his  schoolmates  came  early  to  the  schoolhouse, 
and  finding  the  teacher,  McNanly,  not  yet  arrived,  prepared  a 
somewhat  unpleasant  surprise  for  him,  in  the  shape  of  a  pailful 
of  icy  water  suspended  over  the  schoolhouse  door,  in  such  a 
way  that  its  contents  would  descend  upon  the  head  of  the  one 
who  should  first  open  the  door.  This  arranged  they  withdrew 
to  a  neighboring  haymow,  and  waited  to  see  the  fun.  McNanly 
soon  came,  unlocked  the  door  and  received  the  ducking,  which 
naturally  aroused  his  not  very  placable  temper.  He  sat  down 
to  watch,  resolved  to  give  the  first  boy  who  should  come,  a  terri- 
ble thrashing.  A  little  fellow  who  happened  to  be  first  was 
caught  by  the  neck  and  shaken  fiercely,  but  being  convinced 
that  he  knew  nothing  of  it,  the  teacher  dropped  him  and  waited 
for  another.  Each  boy  in  turn  was  throttled  and  shaken,  the 
two  real  offenders  among  the  rest,  but  as  all  denied  it,  McNanly 
still  waited  for  his  victims.  At  length  Phil.  Sheridan  came, 
somewhat  late,  as  usual,  and  convinced  that  he  had  now  the  real 
culprit,  McNanly  made  a  dive  for  him ;  the  boy  dodged  and 
ran,  and  the  teacher  after  him,  bare  headed  and  brandishing  his 
stick.  Phil  did  his  best,  but  his  legs  were  short,  and  when  he 
reached  his  father's  yard  McNanly  was  almost  upon  him,  and 


122  MEN  OF   OUR   DAY. 

he  bolted  through  the  gate,  the  teacher  following  at  full  speed, 
when  a  new  ally  suddenly  came  to  Phil's  relief.  This  was  no 
other  than  a  large  Newfoundland  dog,  the  boy's  playmate  and 
pet,  who  seeing  his  young  master  in  trouble,  sprang  upon  the 
teacher,  who,  frightened  sadly,  climbed  the  nearest  tree  with 
great  agility.  "  Take  away  your  divilish  dog,"  he  cried,  "  or 
I'll  bate  the  life  out  of  ye."  "  Like  to  see  you,"  said  the  boy, 
as  he  very  coolly  brought  a  bit  of  old  carpet-,  threw  it  under  the 
tree  and  ordered  Rover  to  "  watch  him."  The  dog  obeyed  and 
Phil  mounted  the  fence  and  looked,  somewhat  impudently,  we 
fear,  at  his  teacher,  the  whole  school  meantime  being  gathered 
close  by  to  see  the  end.  McNanly's  clothing  was  none  of  the 
warmest,  and  his  cold  bath  and  violent  exercise  had  thrown  him 
into  a  violent  perspiration,  and  he  was  now  shivering  with  the 
cold.  "  What  d'ye  want  to  lick  me  for  ?"  queried  Phil.  "  What 
did  ye  throw  the  wather  on  me  for?"  asked  the  teacher;  "I 
didn't  throw  any  wather  on  you,"  said  the  boy.  "  What  did 
ye  run  so  for,  thin  ?"  "  Cause  I  saw  ye  was  going  to  lick  me," 
said  Phil.  "  Well,  call  off  the  dog."  "  Not  till  ye  promise  ye 
won't  lick  me.  Watch  him,  Rover."  This  last  order  was  given 
as  the  teacher  was  trying  to  get  down,  and  the  dog  in  response 
seized  him  by  the  leg..  Mr.  Sheridan  now  came  out,  and 
McNanly  appealed  to  him,  declaring  that  he  must  lick  Phil,  for 
the  sake  of  the  discipline  of  the  school,  for  the  boys  were  all 
laughing  at  him  now.  Mr.  Sheridan  called  to  the  dog,  but  he 
would  not  move,  and  doubting  perhaps  whether  Phil  deserved 
a  thrashing,  he  returned  into  the  house.  "  You'd  better  prom- 
ise," said  Phil,  "  for  the  dog  won't  mind  anybody  but  me,  and  I 
can  stay  here  all  day."  At  length,  nearly  perished  with  the 
cold,  McNanly  promised  that  he  wouldn't  lick  him  that  time,  and 
the  boy,  calling  to  Rover,  allowed  the  master  to  descend.  The 


MAJOR-GENERAL    PHILIP   H.    SHERIDAN.  123 

subsequent  whippings,  Phil  used  to  say,  had  interest  added  to 
them,  on  account  of  this. 

Sheridan  was  fond  of  mathematics,  and  managed  to  pick  up  a 
fair  knowledge  of  figures  in  school.  At  the  age  of  about  fifteen 
he  was  taken  as  a  clerk  by  Mr.  Talbot,  a  hardware  dealer  of  the 
village,  who,  finding  him  active,  intelligent,  and  faithful,  gave 
him  further  instruction  in  mathematics  and  guided  him  in  his 
reading.  After  a  time,  as  a  better  position  offered,  he  helped 
him  to  get  it,  and  he  became  a  clerk  for  Mr.  Henry  Detton. 
Not  long  after  General  Thomas  Kitchey  was  the  Congressman 
from  the  district,  and  had  in  his  gift  an  appointment  to  a  vacancy 
at  West  Point.  For  this  place  there  was  a  strong  competition. 
Sons  of  wealthy  parents  came,  or  sent  to  him  their  applications 
with  a  long  list  of  influential  names.  At  length  one  letter  came 
without  recommendations  or  references.  .  It  merely  asked  that 
the  place  might  be  given  to  the  writer  and  was  signed,  "  Phil 
Sheridan."  General  Kitchey,  who  had  known  the  boy  for  a 
long  time  and  had  marked  his  faithfulness  and  love  of  study, 
gave  him  the  appointment  at  once. 

Sheridan  was  at  this  time  (1848),  seventeen  years  old.  Among 
his  classmates  were  James  B.  McPherson,  Schofield,  Sill,  Tyler, 
and  the  rebel  General  Hood.  His  scholarship  at  West  Point 
was  above  mediocrity,  but  his  animal  spirits  were  so  constantly 
running  over^  and  his  pugnacity  was  so  much  in  the  ascendancy, 
that  he  was  always  receiving  demerit  marks  in  the  conduct 
column.  One  of  the  cadets  insulted  him,  and  he  proceeded  to 
redress  his  own  grievances,  by  giving  the  offender  a  severe 
thrashing.  This  conduct,  some  of  the  officers  of  the  academy 
believed  justifiable,  but  it  was  unmilitary,  and,  as  a  result, 
Sheridan  was  suspended  and  thrown  into  the  class  below,  so 
that  he  did  not  graduate  till  1853,  when  he  stood  thirty-fourth 
in  a  class  of  fifty-two.  He  was  ordered  to  duty  as  brevet  second 


124  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

lieutenant  of  infantry,  but  at  first  without  being  assigned  to  any 
particular  regiment,  and  after  serving  in  garrison  at  Newport 
barracks,  Kentucky,  for  a  few  months,  was  sent  in  the  begin- 
ning of  1854:,  to  the  Texas  frontier,  where  for  nearly  two  years, 
he  served  at  Fort  Duncan,  La  Pena,  and  Turkey  creek,  Texas. 
He  received  his  commission  as  full  second  lieutenant,  while  in 
Texas,  November  22d,  1854.  Returning  east,  after  a  short 
period  of  garrison  duty  at  Fort  Columbus,  New  York,  he  was 
ordered  to  escort  duty  from  Sacramento,  California,  to  Colum- 
bia river,  Oregon,  and  then  on  a  series  of  expeditions  among 
the  Indians,  for  a  year.  He  was  next  assigned  to  the  military 
posts  at  Forts  Haskins  and  Yamhill,  where  he  endeavored  to 
make  peace  with  the  Indians,  learned  their  dialects,  and  won 
their  regard  to  such  an  extent  that  he  could  accomplish  what 
he  pleased  with  them.  On  the  1st  of  March,  1861,  he  was  pro- 
moted to  a  first  lieutenancy  in  the  fourth  infantry,  and  ten 
weeks  later,  May  14th,  a  commission  was  sent  him  as  captain 
in  the  thirteenth  infantry,  and  with  it,  news  of  the  impending 
war.  He  was  ready  for  it,  and  wrote  to  a  friend  in  the  State : 
"  If  they  will  fight  us,  let  them  know  we  accept  the  challenge. 
Who  knows  ?  Perhaps  I  may  have  a  chance  to  raise  a  major's 
commission."  A  modest  ambition,  certainly  for  the  man  who 
within  four  years  was  to  demonstrate  his  title  to  be  regarded  as 
the  ablest  living  cavalry  general.  He  was  ordered  to  report 
at  Jefferson  barracks,  Missouri.  He  arrived  in  the  midst  of  the 
confusion  that  followed  the  removal  of  Fremont  from  command. 
Nothing  could  be  a  more  droll  illustration  of  the  frequent 
governmental  faculty  for  getting  the  wrong  men  in  the  right 
places  than  the  assignment  that  awaited  the  young  Indian 
fighter.  He  was  made  president  of  a  board  to  audit  claims 
under  the  Fremont  administration.  He  did  the  work  satisfac- 
torily, however ;  and  presently  the  Government,  fully  satisfied 


MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP    H.   SHERIDAN.  125 

now,  that  here  was  a  good  man  for  routine  and  clerical  duties, 
made  him  quartermaster  and  commissary  for  Curtis,  at  the 
outset  of  the  Pea  Ridge  campaign. 

All  this  seemed  rapid  promotion  to  Captain  Sheridan,  and 
he  went  to  work  heartily  and  earnestly  to  make  a  quartermas- 
ter of  himself.  He  was  sixty -fourth  captain  on  the  list — so  one 
of  the  staff  officers  tells  of  his  reasoning  in  those  days — and 
with  the  chances  of  war  in  his  favor,  it  needn't  be  a  very  great 
while  before  he  might  hope  to  be  a  major !  With  such  modest 
aspirations  he  worked  away  at  the  wagon-trains ;  cut  down 
regimental  transportation,  gave  fewer  wagons  for  camp  furni- 
ture and  more  for  hard  bread  and  fixed  ammunition,  established 
secondary  depots  for  supplies,  and  with  all  his  labor  found  that 
he  had  not  fully  estimated  the  wants  of  the  army.  Some 
orders  from  General  Curtis  about  this  time  seemed  to  him 
inconsistent  with  the  West  Point  system  of  managing  quarter- 
masters' matters,  and  he  said  so,  officially,  with  considerable 
freedom  of  utterance.  The  matter  was  passed  over  for  a  few 
days,  but  as  soon  as  Pea  Ridge  was  fought,  General  Curtis 
found  time  to  attend  to  smaller  affairs.  The  first  was  to 
dispense  with  the  further  services  of  his  quartermaster,  and 
send  him  back  to  St.  Louis  in  arrest. 

But,  just  then,  educated  officers  were  too  rare  in  Missouri  to  be 
kept  long  out  of  service  on  punctilios.  Presently  the  affair 
with  Curtis  was  adjusted,  and  then  the  Government  had  some 
fresh  work  for  this  young  man  of  routine  and  business.  It 
sent  him  over  into  Wisconsin  to  buy  horses!  The  weeping 
philosopher  himself  might  have  been  embarrassed  to  refrain 
from  laughter!  McClellan  was  at  the  head  of  the  army; 
Halleck  had  chief  command  in  the  west ;  men  like  McClernand 
and  Banks,  Crittenden  and  McCook,  were  commanding  divisions 
or  corps ;  and  for  Cavalry  Sheridan  the  best  work  the  Govern- 


126  ^EN  OF  OUR  DAY- 

ment  could  find  was— buying  horses  in  Wisconsin!  Then 
came  Pittsburg  Landing,  and  Halleck's  hurried  departure 
for  the  field.  Wishing  a  body  of  instructed  regular  officers 
about  him,  he  thought,  among  others,  of  Curtis's  old  quarter- 
master, and  ordered  him  up  to  the  army  before  Corinth.  Then 
followed  a  little  staff  service,  and  at  last,  in  May,  1862,  the 
future  head  of  the  cavalry  got  started  on  his  proper  career. 
Watching  wagon-trains,  disputing  with  the  lawyers  about  doubt- 
ful contractor's  claims,  or  with  the  jockeys  about  the  worth 
of  horses — all  this  seems  now  very  unworthy  of  Sheridan,  but 
it  was  a  part  of  his  education  for  the  place  he  was  to  fill ; 
and  we  shall  see  that  the  familiarity  thus  acquired  with  the 
details  of  supplying  an  army  were  to  prove  of  service  to  one 
whose  business  was  to  be  to  command  armies,  and  to  tax  the 
energies  of  those  who  supplied  them  to  the  utmost. 

There  was  need  of  a  good  cavalry  force,  and  chiefly  of  good 
cavalry  officers,  men  who  understood  their  duties  and  could 
train  a  cavalry  force  to  act  with  precision  as  well  as  dash,  and 
not  to  fire  once  and  run  away.  Our  young  Indian  fighter  was 
thought  of;  he  had  done  good  service  in  Oregon,  and  indeed 
everywhere  else,  and  it  was  possible  that  he  might  know  how 
to  handle  cavalry.  So,  at  a  venture,  on  the  27th,  of  May,  he 
was  commissioned  colonel  of  the  second  regiment  of  Michigan 
volunteer  cavalry,  and  sent  immediately  on  the  expedition  to 
cut  the  railroad  south  of  Corinth.  This  accomplished,  on  his 
return  he  was  immediately  sent  in  pursuit  of  the  rebels,  who 
were  retreating  from  Corinth,  and  captured  and  brought  off  the 
guns  of  Powell's  rebel  battery.  On  the  6th  of  June,  leading  a 
cavalry  reconnoissance  below  Boonesville,  he  met  and  signally 
defeated  a  body  of  rebel  cavalry  commanded  by  General  For- 
rest ;  and  on  the  8th,  started  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  drove 
them  through  Baldwin  and  to  Guntown,  where,  though  their 


MA  JOE- GENERAL    PHILIP    H.    SHERIDAN".  127 

force  was  much  larger  than  his  own,  he  defeated  them,  but 
under  orders  from  headquarters  fell  back  to  Boonesville  and 
thence  to  Corinth. 

On  the  llth,  of  June  he  was  put  in  command  of  a  cavalry 
brigade,  and  on  the  26th,  ordered  to  take  his  position  at  Boone- 
ville,  twenty  miles  in  advance  of  the  main  army,  whose  front  he 
was  to  cover  while  at  the  same  time  he  watched  the  operations 
of  the  rebels.  His  brigade  numbered  less  than  two  thousand 
men. 

On  the  1st  of  July  1862,  he  was  attacked  at  Booneville  by  a 
rebel  force  of  nine  regiments  (about  six  thousand  men),  under 
command  of  General  Chalmers.  Sheridan  slowly  retreated 
toward  his  camp,  which  was  situated  on  the  edge  of  a  swamp, 
in  an  advantageous  position,  where  he  could  not  be  flanked,  and 
here  he  kept  up  the  unequal  fight,  but  finding  that  Chalmers, 
with  his  greatly  superior  numbers,  would  in  the  end  surround 
and  overpower  him,  he  had  recourse  to  strategy.  Selecting 
ninety  of  his  best  men,  armed  with  revolving  carbines  and 
sabres,  he  sent  them  around  to  the  rear  of  the  enemy  by  a 
detour  of  about  four  miles,  with  orders  to  attack  promptly  and 
vigorously  at  a  certain  time,  while  he  would  make  a  simultane- 
ous charge  in  front.  The  plan  proved  a  complete  success.  The 
ninety  men  appeared  suddenly  in  the  enemy's  rear,  not  having 
been  seen  till  they  were  near  enough  to  fire  their  carbines,  and, 
having  emptied  these,  they  rushed  with  drawn  sabres  upon  the 
enemy,  who,  supposing  them  to  be  the  advance  guard  of  a  large 
force,  were  thrown  into  disorder ;  and,  before  they  had  time  to 
recover,  Sheridan  charged  them  in  front  with  such  fury  that 
they  fled  from  the  field  in  complete  disorder,  utterly  routed. 
Sheridan  pursued,  and  they  continued  their  flight,  utterly  panic- 
stricken,  to  Knight's  mills,  twenty  miles  south  from  Boone- 


128  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

ville  throwing  away  their  arms,  knapsacks,  coats,  and  every 
thing  which  could  impede  their  flight. 

General  Grant  reported  this  brilliant  affair  to  the  War  De- 
partment, with  a  recommendation  that  Colonel  Sheridan  should 
be  promoted.  This  recommendation  was  granted,  and  his  com- 
mission of  brigadier-general  bore  date  July  1,  1862. 

At  this  time,  the  rebels  in  his  front  had  but  one  stream 
(Twenty  Mile  creek)  from  which  to  water  their  live-stock,  and 
from  his  post  at  Booneville,  General  Sheridan  frequently  made 
sudden  dashes  in  that  direction,  and  captured  large  quantities 
of  their  stock,  often  two  or  three  hundred  at  a  time.  In  August, 
1862,  he  was  attacked  by  a  rebel  cavalry  force,  under  Colonel 
Faulkner,  near  Bienzi,  Mississippi,  but  after  a  sharp  engage- 
ment the  rebels  were  defeated,  and  retreated  in  haste,  Sheridan 
pursuing  them  to  near  Kipley,  and,  charging  upon  them  before 
they  could  reach  their  main  column,  dispersed  the  whole  force, 
and  captured  a  large  number  of  prisoners.  Early  in  Septem- 
ber, 1862,  General  Grant  having  ascertained  that  the  rebel  Gen- 
eral Bragg  was  moving  towards  Kentucky,  detached  a  portion 
of  his  own  forces  to  reinforce  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  then  under 
command  of  General  Buell.  Among  these  were  General  Sheri- 
dan, and  his  old  command,  the  second  Michigan  cavalry.  As 
General  Grant  expected,  General  Buell  gave  Sheridan  a  larger 
command,  assigning  him  to  the  charge  of  the  third  division  of 
the  Army  of  the  Ohio.  He  assumed  command  of  this  division 
on  the  20th  of  September,  1862.  At  this  time,  General  Bragg 
was  approaching  Louisville,  which  was  not  in  a  good  condition 
for  defence,  and  General  Sheridan  was  charged  with  the  duty  of 
defending  it.  In  a  single  night,  with  the  division  under  his 
command,  he  constructed  a  strong  line  of  rifle-pits  from  the  rail- 
road depot  to  the  vicinity  of  Portland,  and  thus  secured  the  city 
against  the  danger  of  surprise.  On  the  25th  of  September, 


MAJOR-GENERAL    PHILIP   H.    SHERIDAN.  129 

General  Buell  arrived  at  Louisville,  and  soon  commenced  a  re- 
organization of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  now  largely  reinforced. 
In  this  re-organization,  General  Sheridan  was  placed  in  command 
of  the  eleventh  division,  and  entered  upon  his  duties  on  the  1st 
of  October. 

Buell  soon  took  the  offensive  again,  and  began  pushing  the  re- 
bels, who  had  already  commenced  a  retreat,  but  were  embarrassed 
by  the  amount  of  plunder  they  had  collected.  On  the  8th  of  Octo- 
ber, the  rebels  made  a  stand  near  Perryville,  Kentucky,  for  the 
double  purpose  of  checking  the  pursuit,  and  allowing  their  trains 
to  move  forward  out  of  harm's  way.  The  battle  which  followed, 
though  a  severe  one,  was  not  decisive,  owing  to  some  defects  in 
the  handling  of  the  forces,  and  Bragg  was  allowed  to  make  good 
his  retreat  with  most  of  his  plunder,  and  with  but  moderate 
loss :  but  in  it  Sheridan  played  a  distinguished  part,  holding 
the  key  of  the  Union  position,  and  resisting  the  onsets  of  the 
enemy,  again  and  again,  with  great  bravery  and  skill,  driving 
them  at  last  from  the  open  ground  in  front,  by  a  bayonet  charge. 
This  accomplished,  he  saw  that  they  were  gaining  advantage  on 
the  left  of  the  Union  line,  and  moving  forward  his  artillery, 
directed  so  terrible  a  fire  upon  the  rebel  advance,  that  he  drove 
them  from  the  open  ground  on  which  they  had  taken  position. 
Enraged  at  being  thus  foiled,  they  charged  with  great  fury  upon 
his  lines,  determined  to  carry  the  point  at  all  hazards  ;  but,  with 
the  utmost  coolness,  he  opened  upon  them  at  short  range,  with 
such  a  murderous  fire  of  grape  and  canister,  that  they  fell  back 
in  great  disorder,  leaving  their  dead  and  wounded  in  winrows 
in  front  of  the  batteries.  The  loss  in  Sheridan's  division  in 
killed  and  wounded,  was  over  four  hundred,  but  his  generalship 
had  saved  the  Union  army  from  defeat.  On  the  30th  of  Octo- 
ber, General  Eosecrans  succeeded  General  Buell  as  commander 

of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  which,  with  enlarged  territory,  was 
9 


J.30  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

thenceforward  to  be  known  as  the  Army  of  tie  Cumberland, 
and  in  the  re-organization,  General  Sheridan  was  assigned  to 
to  the  command  of  one  of  the  divisions  of  McCook's  corps, 
which  constituted  the  right  wing  of  that  army.  He  remained 
for  the  next  seven  or  eight  weeks  in  the  vicinity  of  Nashville, 
and  then  moved  with  his  corps,  on  the  26th  of  December,  1862, 
toward  Murfreesboro.  During  the  26th,  his  division  met  the 
enemy  on  the  Nolensville  road,  and  skirmished  with  them  to 
Nolensville  and  Knob  gap,  occupying  at  night  the  latter  import- 
ant position.  The  next  morning  a  dense  fog  obscured  the  hori- 
zon; but  as  soon  as  it  lifted,  Sheridan  pressed  forward,  and 
drove  the  enemy  from  the  village  of  Triune,  which  he  occupied. 

The  next  three  days  were  spent  in  skirmishing,  and  in  gra- 
dually drawing  nearer,  over  the  almost  impassable  roads,  to 
Murfreesboro,  the  goal  of  their  hopes.  At  length,  on  the 
night  of  the  30th  of  December,  the  army  was  drawn  up  in 
battle  array,  on  the  banks  of  Stone  river. 

"  The  men  bivouacked  in  line  of  battle.  They  were  to  wake 
to  great  calamity  and  great  glory  in  the  morning. 

"  In  the  general  plan  of  the  battle  of  Stone  river,  the  part 
assigned  to  the  right  wing,  was  to  hold  the  enemy,  while  the 
rest  of  the  army  swung  through  Murfreesboro,  upon  his  rear. 
In  this  right  wing  Sheridan  held  the  left.  Elsewhere  along  that 
ill-formed  line  were  batteries,  to  which  the  horses  had  not  been 
harnessed  when  the  fateful  attack  burst  through  the  gray  dawn 
upon  them.  But  there  was  one  division  commander  who,  with 
or  without  orders  thereto,  might  be  trusted  for  ample  vigilance 
in  the  face  of  an  enemy.  At  two  in  the  morning,  he  was 
moving  some  of  his  regiments  to  strengthen  a  portion  of  his 
line,  on  which  he  thought  the  enemy  was  massing.  At  four  he 
mustered  his  division  under  arms,  and  had  every  cannoneer  at 
his  post.  For  over  two  hours  they  waited.  When  the  onset 


MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   H.   SHERIDAN.  131 

came,  the  ready  batteries  opened  at  once.  The  rebels  continued 
to  sweep  up.  At  fifty  yards'  distance  the  volleys  of  Sheridan's 
musketry  became  too  murderous.  The  enemy,  in  massed  regi- 
ments, hesitated,  wavered,  and  finally  broke.  Sheridan  instantly 
sent  Sill's  brigade  to  charge  upon  the  retreating  column.  The 
movement  was  brilliantly  executed,  but  the  life  of  the  gallant 
brigade  commander  went  out  in  the  charge. 

"  Presently  the  enemy  rallied  and  returned.  Already  the 
rest  of  the  wing  had  been  hurled  back  in  confusion ;  the  weight 
of  the  victorious  foe  bore  down  upon  Sheridan's  exposed  flank 
and  broke  it.  There  was  now  come  upon  Sheridan,  that  same 
stress  of  battle  under  which  his  companion  division  commanders 
had  been  crushed.  But  hastily  drawing  back  the  broken  flank, 
he  changed  the  front  of  his  line  to  meet  the  new  danger,  and 
ordered  a  brigade  to  charge ;  while  under  cover  of  this  daring 
onset,  the  new  line  was  made  compact.  Here  Sheridan  felt 
abundantly  able  to  hold  his  ground. 

"  But  his  flank ?     The  routed  divisions,  which  should 

have  formed  upon  it,  were  still  in  hasty  retreat.  He  dashed 
among  them — threatened,  begged,  swore.  All  was  in  vain; 
they  would  not  re-form.  Sheridan  was  isolated,  and  his  right 
once  more  turned.  Moving  then  by  the  left,  he  rapidly  ad- 
vanced, driving  the  enemy  from  his  front,  and  maintaining  his 
line  unbroken  till  he  secured  a  connection  on  the  left  with 
Negley.  Here  he  was  instantly .  and  tremendously  assailed. 
The  attack  was  repulsed.  Again  Cheatham's  rebel  division  at 
tacked,  and  again  it  was  driven  back.  Once  again  the  baffled 
enemy  swept  up  to  the  onset,  till  his  batteries  were  planted 
within  two  hundred  yards  of  Sheridan's  lines.  The  men  stood 
firm.  Another  of  the  brigade  commanders  fell ;  but  the  enemy 
was  once  more  driven.  Thus  heroically  did  Sheridan  strive  to 
beat  back  the  swift  disaster  that  had  befallen  the  right. 


132  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

"But  now  came  the  crowning  misfortu  .:e.  "When  the  rest  of 
McCook's  wing  had  been  swept  out  of  the  contest,  the  ammuni- 
tion train  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  With  the 
overwhelming  force  on  his  front,  with  the  batteries  playing  at 
short  range,  with  the  third  rebel  onslaught  just  repulsed,  and 
the  men  momentarily  growing  more  confident  of  themselves 
and  of  their  fiery  commander,  there  suddenly  came  the  startling 
cry  that  the  ammunition  was  exhausted !  '  Fix  bayonets,  then !' 
was  the  ringing  command.  Under  cover  of  the  bristling  lines 
of  steel  on  the  front,  the  brigades  were  rapidly  withdrawn. 
Presently  a  couple  of  regiments  fell  upon  an  abandoned  ammu- 
nition wagon.  For  a  moment  they  swarmed  around  it — then 
back  on  the  double  quick  to  the  front,  to  aid  in  the  retreat  of 
the  artillery.  One  battery  was  lost,  the  rest,  with  only  a  miss- 
ing piece  or  two,  were  brought  oft'.  Thus  riddled  and  depleted, 
with  fifteen  hundred  from  the  little  division  left  dead  or  wound- 
ed in  the  dark  cedars,  but  with  compact  ranks  and  a  steady 
front,  the  heroic  column  came  out  on  the  Murfreesboro  turn- 
pike. '  Here  is  all  that  is  left  of  us,'  said  Sheridan,  riding  up 
to  Eosecrans  to  report.  'Our  cartridge-boxes  are  empty,  and 
so  are  our  muskets !' 

"  Thus  the  right,  on  which  the  battle  was  to  have  hinged, 
had  disappeared  from  the  struggle.  Already  the  enemy,  press- 
ing his  advantage  to  the  utmost,  seemed  about  to  break  through 
the  centre ;  and  Sheridan,  supplied  with  ammunition,  was  or- 
dered in  to  its  relief.  He  checked  the  rebel  advance,  charged  at 
one  point,  and  captured  guns  and  prisoners,  held  his  line  steady 
throughout,  and  bivouacked  upon  it  at  nightfall.  This  final 
struggle  cost  him  his  last  brigade  commander  1"* 

General  Rosecrans,  in  his  report  of  this  battle,  pays  the  fol- 
lowing high  compliment  to  Sheridan's  generalship :  "  Sheridan, 

*  Mr.  Whitelaw  Reid's  sketch  of  Sheridan  in  his  "  Ohio  in  the  War." 


MAJOE-GEXEEAL   PHIIiP   H.   SHEEIDAX.  133 

after  sustaining  four  successive  attacks,  gradually  swung  his  right 
round  southeasterly  to  a  northwestern  direction,  repulsing  the 
enemy  four  times,  losing  the  gallant  General  Sill  of  his  right, 
and  Colonel  Eoberts  of  his  left  brigade ;  when,  having  ex- 
hausted his  ammunition,  Negley's  division  being  in  the  same 
predicament,  and  heavily  pressed,  after  desperate  righting  they 
fell  back  from  the  position  held  at  the  commencement,  through 
the  cedar  woods,  in  which  Eousseau's  division,  with  a  portion 
of  Negley's  and  Sheridan's,  met  the  advancing  enemy  and 
checked  his  movements." 

For  his  gallantry  in  this  battle,  General  Eosecrans  suggested, 
and  the  President  recommended,  Sheridan's  promotion  to  the 
rank  of  major-general  of  volunteers,  his  commission  to  date 
from  December  31st,  1862.  He  was  at  once  confirmed  by  the 
Senate. 

In  the  months  that  followed  the  battle  of  Stone  river,  months 
of  watching  and  waiting,  Sheridan  kept  himself  busy,  and  en- 
joying the  confidence  of  the  commanding  general,  who  did  not, 
however,  fully  appreciate  his  talents,  he  and  his  division  found 
constant  employment.  The  country  about  Murfrecsboro  was 
thoroughly  scoured,  and  all  its  strategic  points  carefully  mapped 
in  the  mind  of  the  cavalry  general.  On  the  3d  of  march,  he 
flung  himself  and  his  division  upon  the  rebel  General  Yan  Dorn, 
who  had  penetrated  as  far  as  Shelbyville,  Tennessee,  in  an  ad- 
vance upon  the  Union  lines,  hurled  him  back,  pursued  him  to 
Columbia  and  Franklin,  and  near  Eagleville,  Tennessee,  cap- 
tured his  train  and  a  large  number  of  prisoners.  In  the  ad- 
vance on  Tullahoma,  June  24  to  July  4,  1863,  he  drove  the 
rebels  out  of  Liberty  Gap,  a  strong  mountain  pass,  which  was 
one  of  the  keys  of  their  position,  occupied  Shelbyville,  pushed 
forward  to,  and  took  possession  of  Winchester,  Tennessee, 
which  by  a  flank,  movement,  he  had  compelled  the  enemy  to 


MEN   OP   OUR   DAT. 

abandon,  and  saved  the  great  bridge  over  the  Tennessee  at 
Bridgeport,  his  infantry  outstripping  Stanley's  cavalry,  which 
they  were  ordered  to  support. 

The  Tennessee  crossed,  Chattanooga  flanked  by  Rosecrans,  and 
evacuated  by  Bragg,  General  Sheridan  was  sent  to  reconnoitre 
the  enemy's  force  and  position,  and  found  him  largely  reinforced 
and  determined  to  push  Rosecrans  to  the  wall  and  recover 
Chattanooga.  Then  came  Chickamauga,  the  severe  but  wholly 
indecisive  battle  of  the  first  day,  in  which,  however,  Sheridan, 
by  his  promptness  and  activity,  did  good  service,  and  the  disas- 
trous fight  of  the  second  day,  which  yet,  thanks  to  General 
Thomas's  firmness  and  superb  generalship,  was  not  wholly  a 
defeat.  In  this  severe  action,  McCook's  and  Crittenden's  corps 
and  the  general  commanding  the  army  were,  by  the  fatal  mis- 
understanding of  an  order,  cut  off  from  the  remainder  of  the 
army,  and  compelled  to  fall  back  upon  Rossville,  and  Chatta- 
nooga. Sheridan,  whose  division  was  still  a  part  of  McCook's 
coips,  though  involved  in  this  disaster,  succeeded,  by  the  utmost 
effort,  in  rallying  the  greater  part  of  his  command  and  bringing 
it  through  by-roads  from  Rossville  to  join  General  Thomas, 
who  had  fought  and  repulsed  the  enemy.  He  was  not  in  season, 
much  to  his  mortification,  to  participate  in  the  closing  hours  of 
the  fight,  but  he  nevertheless  strengthened  materially  the  hands 
of  the  general. 

The  corps  of  McCook  and  Crittenden  were  now  consolidated 
into  one  (the  fourth)  corps,  and  the  command  of  it  given  to 
Gordon  Granger,  an  officer  only  less  incompetent  than  those 
whom  he  succeeded.  Then  came  a  change  of  commanders  to  the 

o 

Army  of  the  Cumberland ;  General  G.  H.  Thomas  succeeded 
General  Rosecrans,  and  the  army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  two 
corps  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  being  added  to  the  force, 
General  Grant  to-k  charge  of  the  whole.  The  battles  of  the 


MAJOR- GENERAL   PHILIP   H.   SHERIDAN.  135 

Wauhatchie,  Lookout  Mountain,  and  Mission  Eidge,  and  the 
expulsion  of  the  rebels  from  the  valleys  of  Chattanooga  and 
Chickamauga  followed.  In  the  capture  of  Orchard  Knob,  and 
in  that  most  brilliant  episode  of  the  war,  the  ascent  of  Mission 
Eidge,  Sheridan  bore  a  conspicuous  part.  The  fourth  corps 
(Granger's)  were  the  charging  column,  and  stung  by  the 
recollection  of  that  sad  day  at  Chickamauga,  as  the  six  guns 
gave  the  signal  for  advance,  Sheridan  rode  along  his  column, 
and  called  in  thunder  tones  to  his  division,  "  Show  the  fourth 
corps  that  the  men  of  the  old  twentieth  are  still  alive,  and  can 
fight.  Eemember  Chickamauga !" 

Before  Sheridan  and  the  companion  divisions  stretched  an 
open  space  of  a  mile  and  an  eighth  to  the  enemy's  first  line  of 
rifle-pits.  Above  this  frowned  a  steep  ascent  of  five  hundred 
yards,  up  which  it  scarcely  seemed  possible  that  unresisted  troops 
could  clamber.  At  the  summit  were  fresh  rifle-pits.  As 
Sheridan  rode  along  his  front  and  reconnoitered  the  rebel  pits 
at  the  base  of  the  ridge,  it  seemed  to  him  that,  even  if  captured, 
they  could  scarcely  be  tenable  under  the  plunging  fire  that 
might  then  be  directed  from  the  summit.  He  accordingly  sent 
back  a  staff-officer  to  inquire  if  the  order  was  to  take  the  rifle- 
pits  or  to  take  the  ridge.  But  before  there  was  time  for  an 
answer,  the  six  guns  thundered  out  their  stormy  signal,  and  the 
whole  line  rose  up  and  leaped  forward.  The  plain  was  swept 
by  a  tornado  of  shot  and  shell,  but  the  men  rushed  on  at  the 
double-quick,  swarmed  over  the  rifle-pits,  and  flung  themselves 
down  on  the  face  of  the  mountain.  Just  then  the  answer  to 
Sheridan's  message  came.  It  was  only  this  first  line  of  rifle- 
pits  that  was  to  be  carried.  Some  of  the  men  were  accordingly 
retired  to  it  by  their  brigade  commander,  under  the  heavy  fire 
of  grape,  canister,  and  musketry.  "But,"  said  Sheridan, 
"  believing  that  the  attack  had  assumed  a  new  phase,  and  that  I 


136  MEN   OF   OUR   DAT. 

could  carry  the  ridge,  I  could  not  order  those  officers  aid  men 
who  were  so  gallantly  ascending  the  hill,  step  by  step,  to  return.' 
As  the  twelve  regimental  colors  slowly  went  up,  one  advancing 
a  little,  the  rest  pushing  forward,  emulous  to  be  even  with  it, 
till  all  were  planted  midway  up  the  ascent  on  a  partial  line  of 
rifle-pits  that  nearly  covered  Sheridan's  front,  an  order  came 
from  Granger :  "If  in  your  judgment  the  ridge  can  be  taken, 
do  so."  An  eye-witness  shall  tell  us  how  he  received  it.* 
"  An  aid  rides  up  with  the  order ;  '  Avery,  that  flask,'  said  the 
general.  Quietly  filling  the  pewter  cup,  Sheridan  looks  up  at 
fhe  battery  that  frowned  above  him,  by  Bragg's  headquarters, 
shakes  his  cap  amid  that  storm  of  every  thing  that  kills,  where 
you  could  hardly  hold  your  hand  without  catching  a  bullet  in 
it,  and,  with  a  '  How  are  you  ?'  tosses  off  the  cup.  The  blue 
battle-flag  of  the  rebels  fluttered  a  response  to  the  cool  salute, 
and  the  next  instant  the  battery  let  fly  its  six  guns,  showering 
Sheridan  with  earth.  '  The  general  said  in  his  quiet  way,  '  I 

thought  it  d d  ungenerous !'   The  recording  angel  will  drop  a 

tear  upon  the  word  for  the  part  he  played  that  day.  Wheeling 
toward  the  men  he  cheered  them  to  the  charge,  and  made  at  the 
hill  like  a  bold-riding  hunter.  They  were  out  of  the  rifle-pits 
and  into  the  tempest,  and  struggling  up  the  steep  before  you 
could  get  breath  to  tell  it." 

Then  came  what  the  same  writer  has  called  the  torrid  zone 
of  the  battle.  Rocks  were  rolled  down  from  above  on  the 
advancing  line;  shells  with  lighted  fuses  were  rolled  down; 
guns  were  loaded  with  handfuls  of  cartridges  and  fired  down, 
but  the  line  struggled  on :  still  fluttered  the  twelve  regimental 
flags  in  the  advance.  At  last,  with  a  leap  and  a  rush,  over 
they  went — all  twelve  fluttered  on  the  crest — the  rebels  were 

*  B.  F.  Taylor,  of  the  Chicago  Journal. 


MAJOR-GEXERAL   PHILIP   H.   SHERIDAN.  137 

bayoneted  out  of  their  rifle-pits — the  guns  were  turned — the 
ridge  was  won.  In  this  last  spasm  of  the  struggle  Sheridan's 
horse  was  shot  under  him.  He  sprang  upon  a  captured  gun,  to 
raise  his  short  person  high  enough  to  be  visible  in  the  half- 
crazy  throng,  and  ordered  a  pursuit !  It  harassed  the  enemy 
for  some  miles,  and  brought  back  eleven  guns  as  proofs  of  its 
vigor. 

Signal  as  had  been  Sheridan's  previous  services,  he  had 
never  before  been  so  brilliantly  conspicuous.  In  other  battles 
he  had  approved  himself  a  good  officer  in  the  eyes  of  his  superi- 
ors ;  on  the  deathly  front  of  Mission  Kidge  he  flamed  out  the. 
incarnation  of  soldierly  valor  and  vigor  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole 
American  people.  His  entire  losses  were  thirteen  hundred  and 
four,  and  he  took  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty-two  prisoners. 
But  these  figures  give  no  adequate  idea  of  the  conflict.  It  may 
be  better  understood  from  the  simple  statement  that  in  that 
brief  contest,  in  a  part  of  a  winter  afternoon,  he  lost  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty-three  officers  from  that  single  division — a  num- 
ber greater  than  the  whole  French  army  lost  at  Solferino ! 
Through  his  own  clothes  five  minie  balls  had  passed ;  his  horse 
had  been  shot  under  him ;  and  yet  he  had  come  out  without  a 
scratch. 

For  a  short  time  longer  he  was  employed  in  East  Tennessee 
in  driving  out  the  rebels  who  still  found  a  lodgment  there,  but 
when  General  Grant  was  advanced  to  the  lieutenant  general- 
ship, one  of  his  first  acts  was  to  apply  to  the  War  Department 
for  the  transfer  of  General  Philip  H.  Sheridan  to  the  eastern 
army,  and  when  he  was  arrived,  to  make  him  the  commander 
of  the  cavalry  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Here  he 
was  in  the  sphere  for  which  he  had  longed,  and  for  which  he 
was  undoubtedly  best  fitted.  But  the  cavalry  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  was  far  from  being  in  a  model  condition.  The 


138  MEN   OF   OUR   DAT. 

days  of  the  old  service  of  cavalry,  the  heavy  and  light  horse,  the 
grand  cavalry  charges,  and  the  chivalry  of  mounted  troops 
under  perfect  drill  were  gone ;  minie  muskets  and  rifled  cannon 
had  changed  all  that.  But  with  this  there  had  gone  also  in 
great  measure  the  esprit  du  corps  of  the  service.  The  squadrons 
were  detailed  for  picket  service,  for  guarding  trains,  for  duties 
which  could  better  be  performed  by  infantry,  and  when  they 
fought,  they  charged  upon  infantry,  and  were  shy  of  any  attack 
upon  the  enemy's  cavalry.  Against  all  this  Sheridan  protested, 
and  with  good  effect.  He  procured  their  release  from  picket 
and  train  duty,  he  trained  his  men  to  care  tenderly  for  their 
horses,  which  up  to  this  time  had  been  broken  down  with 
frightful  rapidity,  in  consequence  of  the  ignorance,  heedlessness 
and  indifference  of  their  riders ;  he  drilled  them  in  all  the  ser- 
vice of  cavalry  and  infused  into  them  a  portion  of  his  own  fiery 
spirit  and  that  joy  in  the  fight,  which  marks  the  true  cavalry 
soldier. 

From  the  5th  of  May,  1864,  to  the  9th  of  April,  1865,  Sheri- 
dan's command  were  engaged  in  seventy-six  distinct  battles, 
all  but  thirteen  of  them  under  his  own  eye  and  order.  At  the 
close  of  the  campaign  he  could  say,  with  a  commendable  pride 
in  the  achievements  of  his  men,  though  always  modest  in  regard 
to  his  own  deeds,  "  We  sent  to  the  War  Department  (between 
the  dates  above  specified)  two  hundred  and  five  battle  flags, 
captured  in  open  field  fighting — nearly  as  many  as  all  the 
armies  of  the  United  States  combined  sent  there  during  the 
rebellion.  The  number  of  field  pieces  captured  in  the  same 
period  was  between  one  hundred  and  sixty  and  one  hundred 
and  seventy,  all  in  open  field  fighting  *  *  *We  led  the  advance 
of  the  armj  to  the  Wilderness;  on  the  Eichmond  raid  we 
marked  out  its  line  of  march  to  the  North  Anna,  where  wa 
found  it  on  our  return ;  we  again  led  its  advance  to  Hanover- 


MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   H.   SHERIDAN.  139 

town,  and  then  to  Cold  Harbor;  we  removed  the  enemy's 
cavalry  from  the  south  side  of  the  Chickahominy  by  the  Tre- 
villian  raid,  and  thereby  materially  assisted  the  army  in  its 
successful  march  to  the  J..mes  river  and  Petersburg,  where  it 
remained  until  we  made  the  campaign  in  the  valley;  we 
marched  back  to  Petersburg,  again  took  the  advance  and  led 
the  army  to  victory.  '  In  all  these  operations,  the  percentage  of 
cavalry  casualties  was  as  great  as  that  of  the  infantry,  and  the 
question  which  had  existed — '  who  ever  saw  a  dead  cavalry- 
man ?'  was  set  at  rest." 

Of  the  many  remarkable  actions  hinted  at  in  these  pregnant 
sentences,  we  have  space  only  to  allude  to  two  or  three.  His 
first  raid  toward  Eichmond  was  one  of  the  most  daring  and 
successful  of  the  war.  He  penetrated  the  outer  line  of  defences 
of  that  city ;  bewildered  and  confounded  the  rebels  by  his  au-» 
dacity,  fought  two  battles  to  extricate  himself  from  his  apparent- 
ly critical  position,  in  one  of  which  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  the 
ablest  cavalry  officer  of  the  rebels,  was  slain ;  defeated  the 
enemy  in  both  battles,  built  a  bridge  across  the  Chickahominy 
under  fire,  and  finally  returned  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
after  sixteen  days  with  but  slight  loss,  after  inflicting  serious 
and  permanent  inj  ury  upon  the  enemy.  His  second  raid,  under- 
taken to  co-operate  with  Hunter  in  the  valley  of  Virginia  was 
less  successful,  owing  to  the  utter  failure  of  that  officer's  plans, 
but  it  kept  the  rebel  cavalry  out  of  the  way  of  the  Union  army 
in  crossing  the  James.  On  his  return,  he  guarded  the  vast  train 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  (an  irksome  task  to  him),  to  and 
across  the  James,  not  without  some  sharp  battles;  made  some 
raids  south  of  the  James,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  feint 
at  the  north  side  of  the  James,  in  the  last  days  of  July.  Appoint- 
ed to  the  command  of  the  Arnrj  of  the  Shenandoah,  in  August, 
he  exhibited  such  ability  in  handling  his  troops,  such  alternate 


140  MEN   OF   OUE  DAY. 

caution  and  daring  in  his  manoeuvring  with  Early,  that  the 
confidence  of  the  nation  was  soon  reposed  in  him.  That  that 
confidence  was  not  misplaced,  he  speedily  gave  decisive  evidence. 

On  the  19th  of  September,  after  a  fierce  and  stubborn  fight  at 
Opequan  creek,  he  had  defeated  and  routed  Early,  and  .as  he 
expressed  it,  "  sent  him  whirling  through  Winchester,"  follow- 
ing him  relentlessly  to  his  defences  at  Fisher's  Hill,  thirty  miles 
below,  killing  in  the  battle  and  retreat,  three,  and  wounding 
severely  four  more  of  his  ablest  generals,  among  the  latter 
Fitzhugh  Lee,  the  commander  of  the  rebel  cavalry  of  the  army 
of  Virginia.  With  his  usual  celerity,  and  a  strategic  skill  of 
which,  hitherto,  he  had  not  displayed  the  possession,  he  proceed- 
ed to  attack  Early's  stronghold,  Fisher's  Hill,  which  that  general 
had  believed  perfectly  impregnable,  and,  on  the  22d,  carried  it 
^>y  storm,  attacking  in  front,  in  rear,  and  on  the  flank ;  drove 
the  rebels  out  and  chased  them  without  mercy  till  the  25th, 
driving  them  below  Port  Eepublic,  at  the  extreme  head  of  the 
valley. 

For  this  splendid  series  of  victories,  he  was  made  a  brigadier- 
general  in  the  regular  army  in  place  of  the  lamented  McPher- 
son.  Twice  more  before  the  13th  of  October  he  had  driven 
back  Early  or  his  lieutenants,  who,  loth  to  give  up  the  valley 
of  the  Shenandoah,  the  garden  of  Virginia,  ha.d  obtained  rein- 
forcements and  again  essayed  encounters  with  this  western 
rough  rider.  At  length,  believing  Early  sufficiently  punished 
to  remain  in  obscurity  for  a  time,  Sheridan  made  a  flying  visit 
to  Washington,  on  matters  connected  with  his  department. 
Early  was  quickly  apprised  of  his  departure,  and  resolved  to 
profit  by  it.  Collecting  further  reinforcements,  and  creeping 
stealthily  up  to  the  camp  of  the  Union  army  at  Cedar  creek, 
eighteen  or  twenty  miles  below  Winchester,  the  rebel  soldiers 
being  required  to  lay  aside  their  canteens,  lest  the  click  of  their 


MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   H.   SHERIDAN.  141 

bayoiets  against  them  should  apprize  the  Union  troops  of 
their  approach,  they  reached  and  flanked  Crooks'  corps,  which 
was  in  advance,  at  about  day  dawn.  The  Union  troops  were 
unpardonably  careless,  having  no  suspicion  that  the  rebels 
were  within  twenty  miles  of  them.  They  were  consequently 
taken  at  unawares,  and  many  of  them  bayonetted  before  they 
were  fairly  awake;  in  a  very  few  minutes  they  were  forced 
back,  disorganized,  upon  the  nineteenth  corps,  who  were  en  echelon 
beyond  them ;  they  at  first  made  a  stand,  but  in  a  short  time 
were  forced  back,  though  not  completely  disorganized  ;  and  the 
sixth  corps  in  turn  were  compelled  to  stand  against  heavy  odds. 
In  the  end  all  were  driven  back  three  or  four  miles,  to  the 
Middletown  plains,  and  the  fugitives  were  carrying  the  news 
of  a  total  defeat  and  rout,  at  full  speed  toward  Winchester 
But  deliverance  was  nearer  than  they  thought.  They  had  lost* 
twenty -four  guns  and  twelve  hundred  prisoners,  but  they  were 
beginning  to  recover  from  their  fright,  and  were  re-organizing, 
while  the  rebels,  hungry  and  thirsty,  wayworn  and  in  rags,  were 
stopping  to  plunder  the  camp.  Still  they  would  hardly  have 
regained  any  portion  of  their  lost  territory  and  might  have  fallen 
back  to  Winchester,  had  not  Sheridan,  just  at  this  juncture, 
appeared  riding  at  full  speed  among  them.  He  had  heard  the 
firing  at  Winchester,  where  he  arrived  late  the  night  before, 
and  at  first  was  not  alarmed  by  it,  but,  coming  out  of  Winches- 
ter, he  was  met  by  some  of  the  foremost  of  the  fugitives,  a  mile 
from  the  town. 

"  He  instantly  gave  orders  to  park  the  retreating  trains  on 
either  side  of  the  road,  directed  the  greater  part  of  his  escort 
to  follow  as  best  they  could ;  then,  with  only  twenty  cavalrymen 
accompanying  him,  he  struck  out  in  a  swinging  gallop  for  the 
scene  of  danger.  As  he  dashed  up  the  pike,  the  crowds  of 
stragglers  gr«w  thicker.  He  reproached  none ;  only,  swinging 


142  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY, 

his  cap,  with  a  cheery  smile  for  all,  he  shouted :  '  Face  the  other 
way,  boys,  face  the  other  way.  We  are  going  back  to  our 
camps.  We  are  going  to  lick  them  out. of  their  boots.'  Less 
classic,  doubtless,  than  Napoleon's  '  My  children,  we  will  camp 
on  the  battle-field,  as  usual;'  but  the  wounded  raised  their 
hoarse  voices  to  cheer  as  he  passed,  and  the  masses  of  fugitives 
turned  and  followed  him  to  the  front.  As  he  rode  into  the 
forming  lines,  the  men  quickened  their  pace  back  to  the  ranks, 
and  everywhere  glad  cheers  went  up.  '  Boys,  this  never  should 
have  happened  if  I  had  been  here,'  he  exclaimed  to  one  and 
another  regiment.  '  I  tell  you  it  never  should  have  happened. 
And  now  we  are  going  back  to  our  camps.  We  are  going  to 
get  a  twist  on  them ;  we'll  get  the  tightest  twist  on  them  yet 
that  ever  you  saw.  We'll  have  all  those  camps  and  cannon 
back  again !'  Thus  he  rode  along  the  lines,  rectified  the  forma- 
tion, cheered  and  animated  the  soldiers.  Presently  there  grew 
up  across  that  pike  as  compact  a  body  of  infantry  and  cavalry 
as  that  which,  a  month  before,  had  sent  the  enemy  '  whirling 
through  Winchester.'  His  men  had  full  faith  in  '  the  twist'  he 
was  '  going  to  get'  on  the  victorious  foe ;  his  presence  was  inspi- 
ration, his  commands  were  victory. 

"  While  the  line  was  thus  re-established,  he  was  in  momentary 
expectation  of  attack.  Wright's  sixth  corps  was  some  distance 
in  the  rear.  'One  staff  officer  after  another  was  sent  after  it. 
Finally,  Sheridan  himself  dashed  down  to  hurry  it  up ;  then 
back  to  watch  it  going  into  position.  As  he  thus  stood,  looking 
off  from  the  left,  he  saw  the  enemy's  columns  once  more  moving 
up.  Hurried  warning  was  sent  to  the  nineteenth  corps,  on  which 
it  was  evident  the  attack  would  fall.  By  this  time  it  was  after 
three  o'clock. 

"  The  nineteenth  corps,  no  longer  taken  by  surprise,  repulsed 
the  enemy's  onset.  '  Thank  God  for  that,'  said  Sheridan,  gaily. 


MAJOR-GENERAL    PHILIP   H.   SHERIDAN.  143 

;  Now  tell  General  Emory,  if  they  attack  him  again,  to  go  after 
them,  and  to  follow  them  up.  We'll  get  the  tightest  twist  on 
them  pretty  soon  they  ever  saw.'  The  men  heard  and  believed 
him  ;  the  demoralization  of  the  defeat  was  gone.  But  he  still 
waited.  Word  had  been  sent  in  from  the  cavalry,  of  danger 
from  a  heavy  body  moving  on  his  flank.  He  doubted  it,  and 
at  last  determined  to. run  the  risk.  At  four  o'clock  the  orders 
went  out :  '  The  whole  line  will  advance.  The  nineteenth  corps 
will  move  in  connection  with  the  sixth.  The  right  of  the  nine- 
teenth will  swing  toward  the  left.' 

"  The  enemy  lay  behind  stone  fences,  and  where  these  failed, 
breastworks  of  rails  eked  out  his  line.  For  a  little,  he  held  his 
position  firmly.  His  left  overlapped  Sheridan's  right,  and  see- 
ing this  advantage,  he  bent  it  down  to  renew  the  attack  in 
flank.  At  this  critical  moment,  Sheridan  ordered  a  charge  of 
General  Me  Williams'  brigade  against  the  angle  thus  caused  in 
the  rebel  line.  It  forced  its  way  through,  and  the  rebel  flank- 
ing party  was  cut  off.  Ouster's  cavalry  was  sent  swooping  down 
upon  it — it  broke,  and  fled,  or  surrendered,  according  to  the 
agility  of  the  individuals.  Simultaneously  the  whole  line 
charged  along  the  front ;  the  rebel  line  was  crowded  back  to 
the  creek ;  the  difficulties  of  the  crossing  embarrassed  it,  and 
as  the  victorious  ranks  swept  up,  it  broke  in  utter  confusion. 

"  Ouster  charged  down  in  the  fast  gathering  darkness,  to  the 
west  of  the  pike ;  Devin  to  the  east  of  it ;  and  on  either  flank 
of  the  fleeing  rout  they  flung  themselves.  Nearly  all  the  rebel 
transportation  was  captured,  the  camps  and  artillery  were  re- 
gained ;  up  to  Fisher's  Hill  the  road  was  jammed  with  artillery, 
caissons,  and  ambulances;  prisoners  came  streaming  back  faster 
than  the  provost  marshal  could  provide  for  them.  It  was  the 
end  of  Early's  army ;  the  end  of  campaigning  in  the  beautiful 
valley  of  the  Shenandoah." 


144  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

The  twenty-four  cannon  lost  in  the  morning  were  retaken, 
and  besides  them,  twenty-eight  more  of  Early's.  Beside  these, 
there  were  fifty  wagons,  sixty-five  ambulances,  sixteen  hundred 
small  arms,  several  battle  flags,  fifteen  hundred  prisoners,  and 
two  thousand  killed  and  wounded  left  on  the  field.  The  Union 
losses  were  about  thirty-eight  hundred,  of  whom  eight  hundred 
were  prisoners. 

In  all  the  records  of  modern  history,  there  are  but  three  ex- 
amples of  such  a  battle,  lost  and  won  on  the  same  field,  and  in 
the  same  conflict — Marengo,  Shiloh,  and  Stone  Eiver ;  and  in 
the  two  former  the  retrieval  was  due  mainly  to  reinforcements 
brought  up  at  the  critical  time,  while  the  third  was  not  so 
immedia  ely  decisive ;  but  here,  the  only  reinforcement  which 
the  army  of  the  Shenandoah  received  or  needed  to  recover  its 
lost  field  of  battle,  camps,  intrenchments,  and  cannon,  was  one 
man — SHERIDAN. 

General  Grant,  on  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  battle,  tele- 
graphed to  Secretary  Stanton :  "I  had  a  salute  of  one  hundred 
guns  fired  from  each  of  the  armies  here,  in  honor  of  Sheridan's 
last  victory.  Turning  what  bid  fair  to  be  a  disaster  into  a  glori- 
ous victory,  stamps  /Sheridan,  what  I  have  always  thought  him,  one 
of  the  ablest  of  generals"  General  Sheridan  also  received  an 
autograph  letter  of  thanks  from  the  President,  and  on  the  14th 
of  November,  he  was  promoted  to  the  major- generalship  in  the 
regular  army,  vacated  by  General  McClellan's  resignation. 

For  six  weeks  following,  there  were  occasional  skirmishes 
with  small  bands  of  regular  cavalry,  the  debris  of  Early's  army, 
but  this  was  all.  In  December,  the  sixth  army  corps  returned 
to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  Sheridan,  for  two  months, 
recruited  and  rested  his  cavalry,  using  it  only  as  an  army  of 
observation.  About  the  first  of  March,  with  a  force  of  about 
9,000  mei,  well  mounted  and  disciplined,  he  moved  forward 


MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP    H.   SHERIDAN.  145 

under  instructions  from  General  Grant,  to  destroy  the  Virginia 
Central  railroad,  and  the  James  Eiver  canal,  the  two  arteries  of 
supply  for  the  rebels  at  Eichmond  and  Petersburg,  and  then 
strike  at,  and  if  possible,  capture  Lynchburg,  and  either  join 
Sherman  at  Goldsboro,  or  returning  to  Winchester,  descend 
thence  to  City  Point.  The  destruction  of  the  railroad  and  canal 
were  thoroughly  performed,  but,  delayed  by  heavy  rains,  he 
found  that  Lynchburg  was  probably  too  strong  to  be  attacked, 
and  as  every  route  of  communication  between  that  city  and 
Eichmond  was  broken,  its  garrison  could  not  render  any  assist- 
ance either  to  Lee  or  Johnston.  He  had  captured  Early's 
remaining  force  of  1,600  men  at  Waynesboro ;  and  now,  instead 
of  returning  to  Winchester,  or  going  on  to  join  Sherman,  he 
resolved  to  march  past  Eichmond,  to  join  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac. The  resolve  was  a  bold  one,  for  he  knew  Longstreet  was 
on  the  watch  for  him,  and  would  show  him  no  mercy,  if  he 
could  have  a  fair  opportunity  of  attacking  him.  Nevertheless, 
he  made  the  march,  fooled  Longstreet,  and  arrived  safely  at 
City  Point,  having  completely  desolated  the  country  through 
which  he  passed,  and  destroyed  property,  estimated  by  the 
rebels  themselves,  at  over  850,000,000. 

And  now  came  the  end  of  the  war,  and  in  its  closing  scenes, 
so  far  as  the  rebel  army  of  Northern  Virginia  was  concerned, 
Sheridan  had  the  most  conspicuous  part.  Arriving  at  City 
Point  on  the  25th  of  March,  1865,  he  was  directed  by  General 
Grant  to  move,  on  the  29th,  southwestward  by  way  of  Eeams' 
station  to  Dinwiddie  Court-house,  and  from  thence  either  strike 
the  Southside  railroad  at  Burkesville  station,  some  forty  miles 
distant ;  or,  if  it  should  seem  best,  support  the  infantry,  one  or 
two  corps  of  which  should,  in  that  case,  be  put  under  his  com- 
mand, in  an  attempt,  by  way  of  Halifax  road,  to  cross  Hatcher's 

run  at  the  point  which  had  been  held  since  February.     He 
10 


146  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

chose,  after  reconnoissance,  the  latter  plan,  and  pushed  on  toward 
Dinwiddie,  and  connected  with  the  left  of  the  fifth  corps,  on  the 
Boydton  road.  The  enemy  were  found  strongly  intrenched  at 
Five  Forks,  about  six  miles  west  of  the  Boydton  plank-road, 
and  also  held  in  some  force  the  White  Oak  road,  by  which  the 
Five  Forks  were  approached  from  the  east.  On  the  31st  of 
March  there  was  heavy  fighting  all  along  the  line.  The  fifth 
corps,  or  rather  two  divisions  of  it,  were  driven  back  in  some 
disorder  on  the  White  Oak  road,  and  a  part  of  Sheridan's  cav- 
alry were  separated  from  the  main  body,  and  his  whole  force 
imperilled.  By  dismounting  his  cavalry  in  front  of  Dinwiddie 
Court-house,  and  fighting  desperately  till  late  at  night,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  holding  his  position,  and  the  two  contending  forces 
lay  on  their  arms  through  the  night.  ,  The  next  morning,  April 
1st,  the  fifth  corps,  now  under  his  command,  did  not  advance  as 
he  expected,  and  his  enemy  of  the  night  before  having  retreated 
to  Five  Forks,  he  followed,  and  finding  the  fifth  corps,  directed 
them  to  assault  when  he  gave  the  order,  and  completed  his 
arrangements  for  carrying  Five  Forks  by  a  simultaneous  assault 
in  front  and  on  both  flanks.  In  this  assault  the  fifth  corps  par- 
ticipated. It  was  successful,  after  some  hard  fighting,  and  the 
rebel  troops  who  were  not  either  slain,  wounded  or  prisoners, 
were  driven  off  westward  so  far  as  to  be  unable  to  return  to  aid 
in  the  defence  of  Petersburg.  Being  dissatisfied,  perhaps  with- 
out quite  sufficient  cause,  with  the  management  of  General  G. 
K.  Warren,  the  commander  of  the  fifth  corps,  during  the  day, 
General  Sheridan  relieved  him  of  his  command,  and  ordered 
General  Griffin  to  take  his  place.  The  two  men  were  so  unlike 
in  their  temperament  and  modes  of  thought,  though  both  brave 
and  patriotic  officers,  that  they  could  hardly  have  been  expected 
to  work  well  together. 


MAJOR-GENERAL    PHILIP   H.   SHERIDAN.  147 

Sheridan  followed  up  his  successes  the  following  day,  by  ham- 
mering the  enemy's  line  along  the  Southside  railroad,  and  an 
assault  being  made  at  the  same  time  on  the  defences  of  Peters- 
burg, that  city  and  Eichmond  were  evacuated,  and  the  rebel 
army  fled  along  the  route  of  the  Southside  railroad  and  the 
Appomattox  river  toward  Appomattox  Court-house,  pursued 
relentlessly  by  Sheridan,  who  acted  on  the  Donnybrook  Fair 
principle,  and  whenever  he  saw  a  rebel  head,  hit  it.  There  were 
some  sharp  actions,  for  the  rebels  were  righting  in  sheer  despair ; 
but  finding  their  trains  captured  and  themselves  brought  to  bay, 
without  hope,  at  Appomattox  Court-house,  they  surrendered, 
and  the  war  in  Virginia  was  over. 

But  not  yet  was  our  cavalry  general  to  find  rest.  He  was 
ordered  at  once  to  Texas,  with  a  large  force,  to  bring  the  rebels 
there,  who  still  held  out,  to  terms.  E.  Kirby  Smith,  the  rebel 
commander  of  the  Trans-Mississippi  Department,  surrendered 
about  the  time  of  his  arrival,  and,  with  his  surrender,  the  war 
closed.  On  the  27th  of  June,  1865,  General  Sheridan  was  ap- 
pointed commander  of  the  military  Division  of  the  Gulf,  em- 
bracing the  departments  of  Florida,  Mississippi,  Louisiana  and 
Texas. 

To  preserve  order  in  this  division,  so  recently  in  rebellion,  was 
a  difficult  task,  the  more  difficult  because  the  acting  President 
was  not  true  to  his  pledges,  but  encouraged  the  rebels,  who  at 
first  were  disposed  to  yield,  to  raise  their  heads  again  in  defiance. 
But  General  Sheridan  proved  himself  the  man  for  the  occasion. 
He  was  unfortunately  absent  in  Texas  when  the  riot  and  mas- 
sacre occurred  in  New  Orleans,  but  his  prompt  and  decided 
action  in  regard  to  it,  his  denunciation  of  the  course  of  the 
mayor  and  police,  even  when  he  knew  that  they  were  in  favor 
with  the  President,  his  removal  of  them  from  office,  and  with 
them  of  others  who  obstructed  reconstruction,  and  the  thorough 


148  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

loyalty  he  manifested  all  tlie  way  through,  endeared  him  greatly 
to  the  nation.  In  Texas,  too,  he  had  his  troubles :  a  disloyal 
governor  was  placed  in  power  by  the  abortive  reconstruction 
plan  of  Mr.  Johnson,  and  when  Congress  armed  Sheridan  with 
the  needed  power,  he  removed  him  as  promptly  as  he  had  done 
the  rebel  mayor  and  treacherous  governor  of  Louisiana. 

There  were  border  difficulties  to  encounter,  also ;  many  of  the 
rebel  officers  had  escaped  to  Mexico,  and  most  of  them  were  in 
Maximilian's  service.  Like  his  chief — General  Grant — General 
Sheridan's  sympathies  were  wholly  with  the  Juarez  or  Kepub- 
lican  party  in  Mexico ;  but  our  relations  with  France  were  such 
that  we  could  only  give  them  our  moral,  not  our  military,  sup- 
port. Demagogues  of  both  the  Eepublican  and  Imperial  par- 
ties did  their  best  to  involve  us  in  the  imbroglio  in  some  way, 
and  one  of  Sheridan's  subordinate  commanders  was  so  unwise 
as  to  cross  the  Eio  Grande,  at  Matamoras,  on  the  invitation  of 
one  of  the  guerrilla  chiefs,  and  mingle  in  the  fray.  For  this  he 
was  promptly  removed  from  command,  and  General  Sheridan 
exhibited  so  much  prudence  and  discretion  in  the  whole  affair 
as  to  receive  the  approval  of  all  parties. 

That  Andrew  Johnson  should  not  be  pleased  with  so  straight- 
forward and  loyal  a  commander  was  to  be  expected ;  and  not 
withstanding  the  earnest  protest  of  General  Grant,  he  removed 
him  in  August,  1867,  from  the  command  of  the  Fifth  District, 
and  ordered  him  to  command  on  the  plains,  where  he  would 
have  only  Indians  to  contend  with.  Before  proceeding  to  his 
new  command,  however,  Major-General  Sheridan,  by  permission 
of  General  Grant,  visited  the  East,  and  was  everywhere  received 
with  ovations  and  honor  by  the  people,  who  were  duly  mindful 
of  his  great  services  in  war  and  peace. 

In  person,  Major-General  Sheridan  is  small,  being  barely  five 
feet  six  inches  in  height.  His  body  is  stout,  his  limbs  rather 


MAJOR-GENERAL   PHILIP   H.   SHERIDAN.  149 

short.  He  appears,  however,  to  good  advantage  on  horseback, 
being  an  admirable  horseman,  and  always  riding  a  spirited,  and 
what  most  people  would  think  a  vicious,  horse.  His  broad,  deep 
chest,  his  compact  and  firm  muscles,  his  large  head,  and  his 
active,  vigorous  motions,  indicate  a  man  of  great  vitality  and 
endurance,  and  such  he  is.  His  dark  eyes  are  his  finest  features ; 
but  the  whole  expression  of  his  face  indicates  intellectual  power 
and  intensity  of  will.  His  voice  is  usually  soft  and  low,  but 
musical ;  but  on  the  field,  in  action,  it  rings  out  clear  as  a  silver 
bell.  Take  him  all  in  all,  the  country  has  cause  to  be  proud  of 
its  cavalry  general. 


MAJOR-GENERAL   GEORGE   H.  THOMAS. 


AJOE-GENEEAL  GEORGE  H.  THOMAS,  was  born  in 
Southampton  county,  Virginia,  on  the  31st  of  July,  1816. 
His  father,  John  Thomas,  was  of  English,  or  more  re- 
motely of  "Welsh  descent,  while  his  mother,  Elizabeth 
Eochelle,  was  of  an  ancient  Huguenot  family ;  and  both,  by 
birth,  connections  and  social  condition  were  ranked  among  the 
"  first  families"  of  the  Old  Dominion.  Having  received  a  fair 
academic  education,  he  accepted  a  deputy-clerkship  under  his 
uncle,  James  Eochelle,  then  county-clerk,  and  commenced  at 
the  same  time  the  study  of  the  law.  Eeceiving,  in  the  spring 
of  1836,  and  through  the  influence  of  family  friends,  an  appoint- 
ment to  a  cadetship  in  the  United  States  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point,  he  entered  as  a  cadet  in  the  following  June ;  and, 
after  four  years  of  study,  graduated  in  June,  1840— twelfth  in 
a  class  which  numbered  forty-two  members.  He  was  assigned 
to  a  second  lieutenancy  in  the  3d  artillery,  joined  his  regiment 
in  Florida  in  November,  and  after  a  year's  participation  in  the 
duties  and  dangers  of  that  service,  was  breveted  (Nov.  6,  1841) 
first  lieutenant,  "for  gallant  conduct."  In  January,  1842,  he 
accompanied  his  regiment  to  New  Orleans,  and;  in  June  follow- 
ing, to  Fort  Moultrie,  Charleston  harbor.  In  December,  1843, 

he  was  ordered  with   company  C,  of  his  regiment,   to  Fort 
150 


MA  JOB- GENERAL    GEORGE   H.   THOMAS.  151 

McHenry,  Maryland ;  was  promoted  first  lieutenant,  April  30th, 
1844,  and  in  the  spring  of  1845  joined  company  E,  at  Fort 
Moultrie.  In  July,  1845,  Lieutenant  Thomas  and  his  company 
reported  to  General  Zachary  Taylor  at  Corpus  Christi ;  being, 
together  with  the  3d  and  4th  infantry,  the  first  United  States 
troops  who  occupied  the  soil  of  Texas — in  anticipation  of 
threatened  difficulty  with  Mexico.  Marching  with  the  army 
of  occupation  from  Corpus  Christi  to  the  Eio  Grande,  Lieu- 
tenant Thomas's  company,  together  with  detachments  from  the 
1st  artillery  and  7th  infantry,  was  left  to  garrison  Fort  Brown 
opposite  Matamoras — the  main  body  of  the  army,  under  General 
Taylor,  being  at  Point  Isabel,  where  their  base  of  supplies  was 
established.  He  thus  participated  in  the  successful  defence  of 
Fort  Brown,  against  the  Mexicans,  from  the  2d  to  the  9th  of 
May ;  and  had  the  pleasure  of  contributing  to  the  decisive  vic- 
tory obtained  by  Taylor  at  Eesaca  de  la  Palma  on  the  9th,  by 
pouring  in  an  unremitting  and  galling  fire  upon  the  demoralized 
masses  who  sought  safety  in  flight  over  the  Eio  Grande,  near 
the  fort.  After  the  evacuation  of  Matamoras,  Lieutenant 
Thomas,  with  a  section  of  his  battery,  was  on  detached  service 
with  the  advance  of  the  army ;  rejoined  his  command  in  Septem- 
ber, and  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Monterey,  September  23d, 
1846,  where,  for  his  gallantry,  he  was  breveted  captain.  From 
the  1st  of  November,  1846,  until  February  14th,  1847,  he  com- 
manded company  B  as  senior  lieutenant,  during  which  time  he 
was  with  the  advance  of  General  Quitman's  brigade.  Compa- 
nies C  and  E  of  the  3d  artillery  were  among  those  selected 
by  General  Taylor  in  the  formation  of  a  division,  with  which, 
in  accordance  with  General  Scott's  orders,  he  occupied  the 
country  which  he  had  conquered.  In  the  glorious  and  decisive 
battle  of  Buena  Vista,  on  the  21st  of  February,  Thomas  ex- 
hibited distinguished  gallantry,  which  won  for  him  the  warmest 


MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

encomiums  of  his  chief,  and  the  brevet  rank  of  major.  At  the 
close  of  the  Mexican  war  he  was  appointed  to  the  charge  of 
the  commissary  depot  at  Brazos  Santiago,  and  in  December, 
1848  received  a  six  months,  leave  of  absence,  the  first  he  had 
enjoyed  since  entering  the  service.  Eejoining  his  company  in 
June,  1849,  at  Fort  Adams,  Newport,  Ehode  Island,  he  was 
ordered  on  the  31st  of  July  to  take  command  of  company  B,  of 
the  3d  artillery,  and  proceed  to  Florida,  where  he  remained 
until  December,  1850.  From  thence  he  was  ordered  to  Fort 
Independence,  Boston  harbor ;  but,  on  the  28th  of  March,  1851, 
was  relieved  by  Captain  Ord,  and  assigned  to  West  Point  as 
instructor  of  artillery  and  cavalry,  in  which  capacity  he  served 
for  three  years,  during  which  time  he  was  promoted  to  a  full  cap- 
taincy, dating  from  December  24th,  1853.  He  was  next  as- 
signed, with  a  battalion  of  artillery,  to  Fort  Yuma,  Lower 
California,  the  command  of  which  he  assumed  July  15,  1854. 
Appointed,  May  12,  1855,  as  junior  major  of  the  2d  United 
States  cavalry,  he  left  Fort  Yuma  in  July,  1855,  to  join  his 
new  regiment  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  St.  Louis,  Missouri ;  and, 
from  May  1st,  1856,  to  November  1st,  1860,  was  on  duty  in 
Texas.  During  three  years  of  this  time  he  commanded  the  regi- 
ment, and  in  the  summer  of  1860,  was  engaged  in  an  important 
exploration  of  the  head  waters  of  the  Canadian  and  Eed  rivers 
and  the  Conchas,  during  which  he  met  and  skirmished  with 
roving  bands  of  hostile  Indians,  and  in  one  of  these  rencontres, 
August  26th,  1860,  was  slightly  wounded  in  the  face.  In 
November,  1860,  he  was  favored  with  a  short  leave  of  absence — 
and  when  he  returned  to  duty,  the  country  was  on  the  eve  of  a 
stupendous  struggle,  in  which  Providence  had  marked  him  as 
a  prominent  actor. 

When  the  rebellion  broke  out  in  April,  1861,  Major  Thomas 
was  one  of  the  few  southerners  who  maintained  their  allegiance 


MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE   H.   THOMAS.  153 

to  the  "  Old  Flag,"  and  was  ordered  to  Carlisle  Barracks,  Penn- 
sylvania, to  command  and  refit  his  regiment,  which  had,  during 
the  previous  November,  been  dismounted  and  ordered  out  of 
Texas,  by  the  traitor  General  Twisrsrs. 

/        «/  oo 

On  the  25th  of  April  he  was  created  lieutenant-colonel,  and 
on  May  3d,  1861,  colonel  of  the  2d  cavalry,  transferred  to  the  5th 
cavalry,  August  3d,  1361,  being  assigned  also,  to  the  command  of 
a  brigade  in  Patterson's  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  On  the 
17th  of  August,  1861,  he  was  made  brigadier-general  of  volun- 
teers, and  was  ordered  to  Kentucky,  then  in  the  Department  of 
the  Cumberland,  where,  on  the  15th  of  September,  he  took  com- 
mand of  Camp  Dick  Eobinson.  Having  organized  the  troops 
collected  there,  he  established  Camp  Wildcat,  thirty  miles  to 
the  south-east,  in  order  to  resist  the  advance  of  General  Zolli- 
coffer  through  the  Cumberland  Gap.  After  the  defeat  of  Zolli- 
coffer,  October  26th,  Thomas  commenced  a  forward  movement 
into  Tennessee,  but  was  sent  to  Lebanon,  by  General  Buell,  with 
a  view  of  dislodging  the  rebel  general  A.  J.  Johnston  i'rom 
Bowling  Green.  Organizing,  at  Lebanon,  the  first  division  of 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  he  defeated  the  rebels  at  Mill 
Spring,  Kentucky,  January  19th  1862  (during  which  battle 
Zollicoffer  was  killed),  and  moved  through  Kentucky,  after  the 
fall  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  to  occupy  Nashville,  Tennessee. 
During  the  second  day  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  April  7th,  1862, 
Thomas's  division  formed  the  reserve  of  the  Army  of  the  Cum- 
berland, and,  consequently,  was  not  engaged  in  action.  On  the 
25th  April,  1862,  he  was  confirmed  major-general  of  volunteers, 
his  division  being  transferred  (May  1st)  to  the  Army  of  the  Ten- 
nessee, the  right  wing  of  which  (consisting  of  five  divisions)  was 
placed  under  his  command.  Participating  with  that  army  in 
the  siege  of  Corinth,  he  was,  on  the  10th  of  June,  re-transferred 
to  his  old  army,  that  of  the  Ohio,  and  on  the  8th  of  September 


154:  MEN   OF   OUR    DAY. 

was  placed  in  command  of  Nashville.  On  the  19th,  acting 
under  orders,  he  overtook  Buell  near  Cave  City,  and  was  im- 
mediately made  second  in  the  command  of  the  army,  holding 
the  position  during  the  whole  of  the  rapid  and  exciting  pursuit 
of  Bragg's  forces  out  of  Kentucky.  When,  in  November,  1862, 
General  Eosecrans  took  charge  of  the  army,  which  re-assumed 
its  old  name  of  "the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,"  General 
Thomas  was  given  the  command  of  the  centre,  consisting  of  five 
divisions. 

During  the  series  of  contests  at  Stone  river,  December  31st, 
1862,  to  January  4th,  1863,  which  resulted  in  the  flight  of 
Bragg's  rebel  army  from  Murfreesboro,  Thomas  held  the  ad- 
vance with  a  spirit  which  elicited  from  General  Eosecrans,  in 
his  official  report,  the  praise  of  "being  true  and  prudent,  distin- 
guished in  council,  and  on  many  battle-fields  celebrated  by  his 
courage."  In  the  brilliant  strategic  movements  through  Middle 
Tennessee,  which  compelled  the  rebels  first  to  seek  refuge  in 
Chattanooga,  and  then  to  abandon  it,  Thomas  and  his  14th 
army  corps  bore  a  conspicuous  and  honorable  part.  He  bore 
also  the  brunt  of  the  terrible  onset  made  by  Bragg  at  Chicka- 
mauga  (September  20th,  1863),  in  his  desperate  attack  to  win 
back  this  stronghold.  When  each  flank  of  the  Union  army  was 
swept  back  and  so  completely  routed,  that  Eosecrans  himself 
gave  up  the  clay  as  lost,  Thomas,  resting  his  flanks  on  the  sides 
of  the  mountain  gap,  repulsed,  with  terrible  slaughter,  every 
attempt  of  the  rebel  hosts  to  force  him  from  his  position.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  undaunted  • 
courage  and  extraordinary  military  ability  of  General  Thomas 
on  that  eventful  day  of  shifting,  persistent  and  arduous  conflict, 
Chattanooga,  the  results  of  the  previous  year's  labor  of  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  even  the  existence  of  that  army, 
would  iave  been  irremediably  lost.  On  the  19th  of  October, 


MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE   H.   THOMAS.  155 

1863,  General  Thomas  succeeded  Kosecrans  in  the  chief  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  which  was  then  in 
(General  Grant's)  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  was 
made  a  brigadier-general  in  the  regular  army,  for  gallantry 
at  Chickamauga,  his  commission  dating  from  the  27th  of 
October.  1863. 

After  a  month  spent  in  strengthening  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land and  the  defences  of  Chattanooga,  Thomas  and  his  men,  on 
the  24th  of  November,  rallied  forth  from  that  city,  and,  by  a 
rapid  dash,  siezed  one  of  the  rebel  positions  on  Orchard  Knob ; 
from  which,  on  the  25th,  they  made  that  wonderful  charge  up 
Mission  Eidge,  which  history  records  as  one  of  the  most  extra- 
ordinary and  daring  ever  performed  in  modern  warfare.  Upon 
the  appointment  of  General  Grant  to  the  command  of  the  armies 
of  the  United  States,  General  Sherman  was  placed  in  command 
of  the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi,  and  Thomas  was 
thus  subordinated  to  one  who  was  his  junior  in  years,  experi- 
ence and  commission,  and  only  two  years  before  his  subordinate. 
Thomas,  however,  was  too  true  a  patriot  to  take  exception  to 
this,  as  many  would  have  done,  but  cheerfully  rendered  to 
Sherman  all  the  prompt  obedience  and  service  which  is  due 
from  the  loval  soldier  to  his  chief. 

v 

When  Sherman  set  out  in  May,  1864,  on  his  great  march  to 
Atlanta,  Thomas's  army  formed  the  centre,  and,  during  this  cam- 
paign of  extraordinary  hardship  and  endurance,  did  its  full  share 
of  work.  At  the  battles  of  Buzzard's  Eoost,  Eesaca,  Dallas,  and 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  he  led  the  advance,  and  at  the  battle  of  the 
20th  July,  near  Atlanta,  his  army  alone  sustained  the  shock  of 
Hood's  attack,  driving  him  back  to  his  intrenchments,  with 
heavy  losses,  participating  also  in  the  subsequent  battles  of  the 
22d  and  28th.  Again,  at  Jonesboro,  he  drove  the  enemy  south- 
ward ;  and,  after  the  capture  of  Atlanta,  followed  Hood  to  keep 


156  ^       MEN   OF   OUB   DAY. 

him  from  attempting  any  serious  danger  to  Sherman's  commu- 
nications. When  Sherman  commenced  his  grand  "March  to 
the  Sea,"  he  placed  all  the  troops  he  could  spare  in  Thomas's 
charge,  with  instructions  to  lure  Hood  westward  and  fight  him, 
if  he  would  fight,  near  Nashville.  The  bait  took,  and  Hood, 
deceived  by  Thomas's  feigned  retreat,  moved  confidently  for- 
ward to  destruction.  His  first  decided  check  was  at  Franklin, 
near  Nashville,  on  the  1st,  where,  after  nearly  twelve  hours  of 
the  most  desperate  fighting  in  the  vain  attempt  to  carry  the  in- 
trenchments  which  General  Schofield's  troops  had  hastily  thrown 
up,  the  rebels  abandoned  the  field,  having  sustained  a  loss,  in 
killed,  wounded  and  prisoners,  of  6,252,  and  thirteen  general 
officers  either  killed  or  wounded. 

Thomas's  army,  heavily  reinforced,  now  held  Nashville,  which 
Hood — unable  to  assault — sat  down  to  besiege,  on  a  line  of 
hills  four  or  five  miles  south  of  the  city — evidently  expecting 
that  he  would  be  able  to  starve  out  the  Union  forces.  After 
repeated  and  vain  attempts  to  provoke  Hood  into  an  attack, 
General  Thomas  determined  to  assume  the  offensive  himself. 
Nashville  lies  in  a  bend  of  the  Cumberland  river,  and  Thomas's 
line  being  stretched  across  the  bend,  his  right  and  centre  were 
guarded  by  the  gunboats.  His  plan  for  handling  Hood,  pre- 
supposed two  days'  work.  On  the  first  day,  by  a  bold  demon- 
stration on  his  left  (Hood's  right)  he  hoped  to  attract  the  rebel 
general's  attention  and  force  to  that  wing,  and  then,  with  the 
aid  of  the  gunboats,  roll  back  his  left  wing  upon  the  centre  and, 
having  reached  around  the  flank  and  rear,  to  crush  the  centre 
also.  On  the  second  day  he  proposed  to  attack  the  rebel  right 
until  it  gave  way  and  then  crush  it.  This  programme  was  car- 
ried out  almost  to  the  letter ;  the  close  of  the  first  day's  fighting 
found  the  Union  troops  in  possession  of  Hood's  most  advanced 
position,  sixteen  pieces  of  artillery,  some  1200  prisoners,  large 


MA  JOE- GENERAL    GEORGE   H.   THOMAS.  157 

quantities  of  small-arms  and  about  forty  wagons.  That  night 
Hood  abandoned  his  now  untenable  fortifications  and  planted 
himself,  with  shortened  lines,  across  the  Granny  White  and 
Franklin  turnpikes — and  towards  him,  early  on  the  following 
morning,  pressed  the  Union  army.  It  was  not,  however,  until  4 
p.  M.,  that  the  blow  fell  upon  the  rebel  general — then  the  Union 
cavalry  swept  around  his  flank,  and  the  Union  bayonets  swept 
the  entire  front  of  his  lines  with  the  force  of  a  whirlwind. 
Thirty  minutes  of  desperate  hand  to  hand  fighting — and  Hood's 
troops  were  fleeing  wildly,  hopelessly,  from  the  field — pausing 
not  until  they  had  reached  the  farther  bank  of  the  Tennessee. 
10,000  rebels  killed  and  wounded,  13,189  prisoners,  2207  de- 
serters, 80  cannon,  with  gun-carriages  and  caissons,  3079  small 
arms  and  numbers  of  battle-flags,  were  the  glorius  results  of 
this  great  victory.  General  Forrest's  defeat,  by  the  Union 
General  Milroy,  at  Murfreesboro,  and  Breckinridge's  discom- 
fiture at  the  hands  of  General  Stoneman,  in  East  Tennessee, 
completed  the  work  which  General  Sherman  had  left  for  his 
gallant  lieutenant  to  perform. 

Thomas,  having  now  thoroughly  purged  the  State  of  rebels, 
prepared  to  send  his  troops  into  winter-quarters ;  but  this  not 
meeting  with  the  approval  of  General  Grant,  he  undertook  a 
complete  recruiting  and  re-organization  of  his  army,  which  was 
soon  furnished  with  plenty  of  work  in  various  quarters. 
General  Schofield's  command  was  sent  to  "Wilmington,  North 
Carolina,  and  after  the  capture  of  that  place,  joined  General 
Sherman  at  Goldsboro ;  General  Wilson's  magnificent  cavalry 
column  passed  through  Selma,  Montgomery,  West  Point, 
Columbus  and  Macon ;  General  Granger's  and  General  A.  J. 
Smith's  corps,  assisted  at  the  reduction  and  capture  of  Mobile ; 
and  Stoneman,  with  a  fine  cavalry  force,  operated  in  south- 
western Virginia,  threatening  Lynchburg  and  entering  Salis- 


158  MEN   OF   OUR  DAY. 

bury,  North  Carolina,  where  they  captured  an  immense  amount 
of  rebel  stores,  etc.,  and  cut  off  Johnston's  communications. 

In  January,  1865,  General  Thomas  received  a  well-merited 
promotion  to  the  rank  of  major-general  in  the  regular  army ; 
and,  when  the  army  was  reduced  and  re-organized,  by  general- 
order  of  June  27th,  1865,  he  was  appointed  commander  of  the 
Military  Division  of  the  Tennessee,  embracing  the  States  of 
Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Georgia  and  Alabama. 

In  this  difficult  position  he  has  administered  the  affairs  of  the 
district  with  admirable  skill  and  patriotism,  repressing  incipient 
rebellion,  aiding  the  administration  of  justice  and  encouraging 
the  loyal.  In  December,  1867,  President  Johnson  attempted  to 
win  him  to  support  him  in  his  war  upon  Congress,  offering  him 
as  a  bribe  a  brevet  lieutenant-generalship  and  the  command  of 
the  new  Department  of  the  Atlantic,  but  he  was  too  stern  a 
patriot  to  be  won  in  this  way,  and  his  reply  did  him  great 
honor. 

General  Thomas  has  a  tall  and  finely  proportioned  person, 
a  fair  complexion,  a  keen  blue  eye,  and  a  frank  and  winning 
countenance.  He  is  beloved  by  the  troops  who  have  served 
under  him,  and  who  speak  of  him  affectionately  as  "  Pap" 
Thomas ;  and  they  have  the  most  unlimited  confidence  in  his 
goodness,  skill,  and  ability  to  do  any  thing  which  mortal  man 
can  accomplish.  Pure  in  aspiration,  blameless  in  life,  calm, 
thoughtful,  modest,  amiable,  patient,  persevering,  a  complete 
master  of  his  profession,  inexhaustible  in  resources,  thorough  in 
preparation,  deliberate  but  energetic  in  action — General  Thomas 
may  well  rank  as  the  third  soldier  of  the  Eepublic ! 


MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE   G.  MEADE. 


O  achieve  success  where  all  before  him  had  failed^  to 
retain  command  where,  from  unreadiness,  incapacity,  or 
lack  of  skill  and  foresight,  all  his  predecessors  had  been 
compelled  to  relinquish  it,  and  without  extraordinary 
brilliancy  or  genius,  still,  by  his  soldier-like  bearing  and  his 
manly  and  irreproachable  conduct,  to  win  the  esteem  and  respect 
of  all  who  were  under  his  command,  such  are  the  claims  which 
the  last  commander  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac  presents  to  our 
regard.  GEORGE  GORDON  MEADE  was  born  in  1815,  during  the 
temporary  residence  of  his  parents  at  Cadiz,  in  Spain.  His 
father,  Eichard  "W.  Meade,  was  a  citizen  of  Philadelphia,  and, 
while  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  in  Spain,  was  intrusted  by 
che  United  States  Government  with  the  adjustment  of  certain 
claims  against  that  country.  He  filled  the  offices  of  Consul  and 
Navy  Agent  of  the  United  States  most  creditably,  and  the 
cession  of  Florida — to  prevent  whose  secession  the  son  subse- 
quently contributed  so  much — was  the  result  mainly  of  his 
efforts.  Shortly  after  his  birth,  the  parents  of  young  Meade 
returned  to  Philadelphia,  where  his  youthful  days  were  spent. 
When  a  boy,  he  attended  the  school  at  Georgetown,  taught  by 
the  present  Chief  Justice  Chase.  The  parents,  having  two  sons, 
Richard  W.  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  determined  to  devote 

them  to  the  service  of  their  country.     The  elder  was,  therefore, 

159 


160  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

educated  for  the  Navy,  which  he  entered  in  1826,  while  George 
was  destined  for  the  Army,  and  accordingly  entered  the  Military 
Academy,  near  Philadelphia,  and,  in  1831,  the  Academy  at  West 
Point,  whence  he  graduated  with  honor  in  1835.  The  same 
year  we  find  him  a  second  lieutenant  in  the  third  artillery,  in 
Florida,  in  the  Seminole  war.  The  state  of  his  health  induced 
him  to  resign  his  commission  in  1836,  and  he  became  engaged 
in  civil  engineering ;  but,  in  1842,  he  again  entered  the  service 
as  second  lieutenant  in  the  corps  of  Topographical  Engineers, 
and  in  that  capacity  served  in  the  Mexican  war.  During  this 
campaign  he  served  on  the  staff  of  General  Taylor,  and  after- 
ward on  that  of  General  Scott,  distinguishing  himself  at  Palo 
Alto  and  Monterey,  and  receiving,  as  an  acknowledgment  of  Iris 
gallantry,  a  brevet  of  first  lieutenant,  dating  from  September 
23,  1846 ;  and  also,  upon  his  return  to  Philadelphia,  a  splendid 
sword  from  his  townsmen.  During  the  interval  between  the 
Mexican  war  and  the  rebellion,  having  been  promoted  to  a  full 
first  lieutenancy  in  August,  1851,  and  to  a  captaincy  of  engi- 
neers in  May,  1856,  he  was  engaged  with  the  particular  duties 
of  his  department,  more  especially  in  the  survey  of  the  northern 
lakes ;  but  upon  the  call  to  arms  in  1861,  he  was  ordered  east, 
and  upon  the  organization  of  the  Pennsylvania  Eeserve  Corps, 
under  the  three  years'  call,  Captain  Meade  was  made  a  brigadier- 
general  of  volunteers,  and  assigned  the  command  of  the  second 
brigade,  with  General  McCall  as  division-general,  his  commis- 
sion dating  August  31,  1861.  After  wintering  with  the  division 
at  Tenallytown,  and  helping  to  erect  Fort  Pennsylvania,  they 
crossed  the  Potomac  into  Virginia  during  the  early  part  of  1862, 
and  became  a  portion  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  When  this 
army  began  to  move  upon  Manasass,  during  March  of  that  year, 
General  Meade's  brigade  formed  a  portion  of  the  second  division 
of  McDowell's  first  army  corps,  and  with  this  corps  he  remained 


MAJOR- GENERAL  GEORGE  GORDON  MEAEE.      161 

after  that  general  was  made  commander  of  the  Department  of 
the  Shenandoah.  On  the  18th  of  June,  1862,  General  Meade's 
rank  in  the  regular  army  was  advanced  to  that  of  major  of 
topographical  engineers,  and  subsequently  he  was  confirmed 
with  the  same  rank  in  the  newly  organized  engineer  corps  of 
the  United  States  army.  About  this  time  the  division  of  Penn- 
sylvania Reserves  was  added  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  on 
the  Peninsula.  General  Meade  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Me- 
chanicsville,  June  26,  1862,  and  in  the  battle  of  Games'  Mills, 
June  27,  he  fought  so  bravely  as  to  be  nominated  for  a  brevet 
of  lieutenant- colonel  of  the  regular  army  for  his  distinguished 
services.  After  the  capture  of  Generals  McCall  and  Reynolds, 
he  took  charge  of  the  division.  In  the  battle  of  New  Market 
Cross  Roads,  June  30,  General  Meade  was  struck  by  a  ball  in 
his  side,  inflicting  a  painful  wound ;  but  quickly  rose  from  his 
bed  of  suffering,  and  was  again  at  tHe  head  of  his  division. 
During  the  Maryland  campaign  he  also  distinguished  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  Pennsylvania  Reserves.  At  Antietam,  when 
General  Hooker  was  wounded,  General  Meade  took  charge  of  a 
corps,  and  fought  bravely  the  remainder  of  the  day,  receiving  a 
slight  wound  and  having  two  horses  killed  under  him.  During 
the  fearful  battle  of  Fredericksburg,  he  held  charge  of  the 
second  division  of  the  first  army  corps,  and  fought  in  Franklin's 
left  wing.  He  led  his  men  boldly  up  to  the  rebel  works,  and 
doubtless  would  have  captured  them  had  he  been  properly  sup- 
ported ;  but  after  losing  his  brigade  commanders,  several  of  his 
field  and  line  officers,  and  fifteen  hundred  men,  he,  with  the  rest 
of  the  army,  was  obliged  to  retire  to  the  other  side  of  the  river. 
Two  days  after  this  eventful  battle,  General  Meade  superseded 
General  Butterfield  in  the  command  of  the  fifth  army  corps. 
To  enable  him  to  hold  this,  he  was  promoted  to  be  a  major- 
general  of  volunteers,  with  rank  and  commission  from  Nov.  29, 
11 


162  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

1862.  In  the  second  day  of  the  action  at  Chancellorsville,  the 
corps  of  Meade  and  Eeynolds  were  held  in  reserve  by  General 
Hooker,  and  on  them  he  relied  for  covering  the  crossing  of  the 
Eapidan,  when  it  was  finally  decided  to  withdraw  to  the  north 
bank.  They  performed  their  part  admirably  and  with  but  little 
loss.  Lee's  army,  now  re-inforced  and  flushed  with  recent  vic- 
tories easily  achieved,  took  the  offensive  once  more,  and  speed- 
ily made  its  way  into  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  followed  by 
Hooker.  On  the  28th  of  June,  1863,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
was  in  the  vicinity  of  Frederick,  in  Maryland,  when  a  messenger 
arrived  from  Washington,  relieving  General  Hooker,  and  invest- 
ing General  Meade  with  the  command  of  the  army.  Selected 
thus  suddenly,  without  solicitation  on  his  own  part,  and  by  the 
unanimous  desire  of  the  other  corps  commanders,  he  assumed 
command  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  responsibilities  thrust  upon 
him,  and  made  the  best  disposition  of  his  troops  in  his  power 
for  the  speedily  impending  battle.  The  following  is  a  copy  of 
his  general  order  issued  upon  this  occasion : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC, 

"June  28,  1863. 
"  General  Order,  No.  66. 

"  By  direction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  I  hereby 
assume  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  As  a  sol- 
dier, in  obeying  this  order,  an  order  totally  unexpected  and 
unsolicited,  I  have  no  promises  or  pledges  to  make.  The  coun- 
try looks  to  this  army  to  relieve  it  from  the  devastation  and 
disgrace  of  a  hostile  invasion.  Whatever  fatigues  and  sacrifices 
we  may  be  called  upon  to  undergo,  let  us  have  in  view  constantly 
the  magnitude  of  the  interests  involved,  and  let  each  man  deter- 
mine to  do  his  duty,  leaving  to  an  all-controlling  Providence 
the  decision  of  the  contest.  It  is  with  just  diffidence  that  I  re- 
lieve, in  the  command  of  this  army,  an  eminent  and  accom- 
plished soldier,  whose  name  must  ever  appear  conspicuous 
in  the  history  of  its  achievements;  but  I  rely  upon  the 


MAJOR-GENERAL   GEORGE    GORDON   MEADE.  163 

hearty  support  of  my  companions  in  arms  to  assist  me  in  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  important  trust  which  has  been 
confided  to  me. 

"GEOKGE   G.  MEADE, 

"Major-general  Commanding. 
"S.  P.  BARSTOW,  Assistant  Adjutant-general." 

General  Meade  at  once  put  his  columns  in  motion,  and  in 
three  days  his  advance  and  that  of  the  enemy  met  at  Gettys- 
burg, and  commenced  the  conflict.  The  meeting  at  that  place 
was  by  accident,  but  the  advantages  of  the  position  were  such, 
•  that  instead  of  withdrawing  his  advance,  upon  meeting  the 
enemy,  he  ordered  his  whole  army  up  to  their  support.  Three 
days  of  terrible  warfare,  and  great  loss  of  life  upon  both  sides, 
resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  enemy,  and  the  abandonment  of 
the  northern  invasion.  It  was  the  first  substantial  victory 
gained  by  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  though  the  editors  of 
the  northern  papers,  and  some  of  the  impatient  members  of  the 
Government,  were  inclined  to  blame  General  Meade  for  not 
making  more  ardent  pursuit,  and  falling  upon  the  foe,  who  was 
represented,  as  usual,  as  thoroughly  demoralized,  subsequent 
events  have  shown  that,  in  this  case,  "  discretion  was  the  better 
part  of  valor."  Pursuit,  vigorous  and  effective  pursuit,  was 
made,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  enemy's  train  was  cap- 
tured, but  his  retreat  had  been  at  the  same  time  swift  and 
orderly,  and  so  thoroughly  disciplined  were  the  rebel  troops, 
that  an  attack  upon  them  by  any  pursuing  force  which  could  be 
brought  up  promptly,  must  inevitably  have  resulted  in  a  disas- 
trous repulse.  The  problem  whether  the  attack  should  have 
been  made,  however,  is  one  of  a  tactical  nature,  requiring  for 
its  solution  special  and  professional  knowledge.  It  is,  therefore, 
one  of  those  questions  regarding  which  public  opinion  is  neces- 
sarily worthless.  One  ching  is  certain,  the  emphasis  with  which 


164:  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

the  corps  commanders  pronounced  against  the  assault,  should 
carry  with  it  great  weight,  understanding,  as  they  did,  the  rela- 
tive situations  of  the  opposing  forces. 

After  Lee  had  crossed  the  Potomac,  General  Meade  hoped  to 
bring  him  to  battle  before  he  should  pass  the  mountains,  but 
at  Manassas  gap,  where  an  excellent  opportunity  occurred,  his 
plans  were  frustrated  by  the  dilatory  movements  of  a  corps 
commander,  who  had  the  advance.  For  some  time  after  this, 
the  opposing  armies  lay  in  a  state  of  inactivity,  near  the  Kapi- 
dan,  from  the  necessity  of  heavy  detachments  being  drawn  off 
to  other  points.  In  October,  Lee  attempted,  by  a  flank  move- 
ment, to  sever  Meade's  communications ;  but  the  latter  was  too 
quick  for  him.  Making  a  retrograde  movement  as  far  as 
Centreville,  to  meet  this  effort,  he  followed  Lee  in  return,  and 
thus  the  two  armies  resumed  nearly  the  same  position  as  before 
the  movement  commenced.  In  the  fighting  accompanying  these 
operations,  the  Union  army  had  the  advantage,  and  at  Bristow 
station,  the  rear-guard,  under  Warren,  by  a  rapid  movement 
won  the  field,  and  defeated  the  enemy.  Late  in  November, 
Meade  undertook  the  boldest  move  that  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac had  ever  yet  made.  Leaving  his  base,  with  ten  days' 
rations,  he  crossed  the  river,  hoping  to  interpose  between  the 
wings  of  Lee's  army,  now  in  winter  quarters,  and  stretched  over 
a  wide  extent  of  country.  The  enemy,  however,  was  found  to 
present  so  formidable  a  front  at  Mine  Eun,  behind  intrench- 
ments,  that  it  was  thought  best  to  forego  the  contemplated  at- 
tack, and  our  forces  were  again  withdrawn  to  the  north  bank, 
and  went  into  cantonments  for  the  season.  When  General 
Grant,  as  lieutenant-general,  assumed  the  direction  of  all  the 
forces,  his  headquarters  were  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
General  Meade  retained  the  immediate  command  of  that  army, 
and  during  the  severe  campaigns  of  1864-5,  led  it  on  the  bloody 


MAJOR-GENERAL    GEORGE   GORDON   MEADE.  165 

fields  of  the  "Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  Cold  Harbor,  and  the 
region  round  about  Petersburg  and  Eichmond,  winning  the 
approval  of  his  great  commander,  who  in  recommending  his 
confirmation  as  a  major-general  in  the  regular  army,  spoke  of 
him  in  these  emphatic  words : 

"  General  Meade  is  one  of  our  truest  men,  and  ablest  officers, 
He  has  been  constantly  with  the  Army  of  tlie  Potomac,  confront- 
ing the  strongest,  best  appointed,  and  most  confident  army  of 
the  south.  He,  therefore,  has  not  had  the  same  opportunity  of 
winning  laurels  so  distinctly  marked,  as  have  fallen  to  the  lot 
of  other  generals.  But  I  defy  any  man  to  name  a  commander 
who  would  do  more  than  Meade  has  done,  with  the  same  chances. 
General  Meade  was  appointed  at  my  solicitation,  after  a  cam- 
paign the  most  protracted,  and  covering  more  severely  contested 
battles  than  any  of  which  we  have  any  account  in  history.  I 
have  been  with  General  Meade  through  the  whole  campaign; 
and  I  not  only  made  the  recommendation  upon  a  conviction 
that  this  recognition  of  his  services  was  fully  won,  but  that  he 
was  eminently  qualified  for  the  command  such  rank  would  en- 
title him  to." 

Congress  confirmed  the  appointment,  dating  his  commission 
from  August  18th,  1864.  At  the  close  of  the  war  General 
Meade  returned  for  a  brief  season  to  his  home  in  Philadelphia, 
where  he  was  received  with  the  highest  honors.  He  was  soon 
after  appointed  to  the  command  of  the.  military  division  of  the 
Atlantic,  in  which  were  included  all  the  States  on  the  Atlantic 
coast,  and  which  was  perhaps  the  most  important  of  the  military 
departments.  His  management  of  this  department  was  able  and 
judicious,  but  without  many  events  of  note.  He  acted  prompt- 
ly and  wisely,  under  the  direction  of  the  lieutenant  general, 
in  suppressing  the  Fenian  movement  for  the  invasion  of 
Canada.  When,  in  the  autumn  of  1867,  President  Johnson 


1(36  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

having  become  dissatisfied  with  General  Pope's  administration 
in  Georgia,  Alabama  and  Florida,  in  consequence  of  that 
general's  furthering  rather  than  hindering  tie  enforcement  of 
the  congressional  plan  of  reconstruction,  he  removed  him  and 
transferred  General  Meade  to  the  command  of  that  military 
district,  he  mistook  as  he  had  so  often  done  before,  his  man. 
General  Meade  is  thoroughly  loyal,  and  obedient  to  the  laws, 
and  finding  that  the  congressional  plan  was  the  law  of  the  land, 
he  obeyed  it  as  strictly,  and  promptly,  as  his  predecessor  had 
done ;  even  taking  measures,  such  as  the  removal  of  the  State 
provisional  officers  of  Georgia  for  contumacy  and  insubordina- 
tion, at  which  General  Pope  had  hesitated.  He  has  maintained 
a  dignified  and  honorable  course  in  regard  to  the  Constitutional 
Conventions  of  the  States  of  his  district,  and  whatever  may  be 
his  own  political  views,  he  has  sought  only  to  administer  the 
laws  faithfully,  without  fear  or  favor.  The  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  Florida,  which  at  one  time  was  on  the  point  of 
breaking  into  two  impotent  factions,  was,  by  his  counsels  and 
efforts,  harmonized,  and  the  successful  future  of  the  re-organized 
State  assured. 

The  personal  appearance  of  General  Meade  is  correctly  de- 
scribed by  an  English  writer,  who  was,  introduced  to  him  soon 
after  the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  "  He  is  a  very  remarkable  look- 
ing man — tall,  spare,  of  a  commanding  figure  and  presence; 
his  manners  easy  and  pleasant,  but  having  much  dignity.  His 
head  is  partially  bald,  and  is  small  and  compact ;  bat  the  fore- 
head is  high.  He  has  the  late  Duke  of  Wellington  class  of 
nose ;  and  his  eyes  which  have  a  serious,  and  almost  sad  expres- 
sion, are  rather  sunken,  or  appear  so,  from  the  prominence  of 
the  curved  nasal  development.  He  has  a  decidedly  patrician 
and  distinguished  appearance.  I  had  some  conversation  with  him 
and  of  his  recent  achievements  he  spoke  in  a  modest  and  natural 


MAJOR-GENERAL  GEORGE  GORDON  MEADE.      167 

way.  He  said  that  he  had  been  very  "fortunate;"  but  was 
most  especially  anxious  not  to  arrogate  to  himself  any  credit 
which  he  did  not  deserve.  He  said  that  the  triumph  of  the 
Federal  arms  was  due  to  the  splendid  courage  of  the  Union 
troops,  and  also  to  the  bad  strategy,  and  rash  and  mad  attacks 
made  by  the  enemy.  He  said  that  his  health  was  remarkably 
good  and  that  he  oould  bear  almost  any  amount  of  physical 
fatigue.  What  he  complained  of  was,  the  intense  mental 
anxiety  occasioned  by  the  great  responsibility  of  his  position. 

General  Meade,  in  1840,  married  a  daughter  of  Hon.  John 
Sergeant,  of  Philadelphia,  and  has  a  large  family. 


MAJOR-GENERAL  OLIVER  OTIS  HOWARD. 


AJOR-GENERAL  OLIVER  OTIS  HOWARD,  "the 
Havelock  of  the  American  Union  Army,"  was  born  at 
Leeds,  Kennebec  county,  Maine,  on  the  8th  of  November, 
1830,  the  eldest  of  three  children  of  parents  in  moderate, 
but  independent,  circumstances.  Working  upon  the  farm  until 
his  tenth  year,  he  was  then,  by  his  father's  death,  left«in  the  care 
of  an  uncle,  Hon.  John  Otis,  of  Hallowell,  Maine.  Having  attained 
a  good  common-school  education,  he,  in  1846,  matriculated  at 
Bowdoin  College,  from  which  he  graduated  at  the  head  of  his 
class  in  1850.  Entering  immediately  the  United  States  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point,  he  graduated  from  that  institution  in 
June,  1854,  with  the  fourth  rank  in  his  class.  He  was  assigned 
to  the  Ordnance  Department,  with  brevet  rank  of  second  lieuten- 
ant, served  in  Texas  and  Florida,  and  was  subsequently  trans- 
ferred to  the  United  States  arsenal  at  Augusta,  Georgia ;  and 
from  thence  to  the  arsenal  at  Watervliet,  Maine.  On  the  1st  of 
July,  1855,  he  was  made  a  second  lieutenant  by  promotion  ;  and  on 
the  1st  of  July,  1857,  promoted  to  be  first  lieutenant,  and  appointed 
Acting  Assistant  Professor  of  Mathematics  at  West  Point,  which 
position  he  held  at  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion.  On  the 
28th  of  May,  1861,  he  resigned  his  professorship  and  accepted  a 
commission  as  colonel  of  the  third  Maine  volunteers,  the  first  three 

years  regiment  that  left  that  State:  and,  as  senior  colonel,  led  a  bri- 
168 


MAJOR- GENERAL   OLIVER   OTIS  HOWARD.  169 

gade  at  the  battle  of  Bull  Eun,  July  21, 1861.  The  gallantry  and 
ability  manifested  on  that  occasion  secured  for  him  (September 
3d)  the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  and  he  was  placed  in  com- 
mand of  a  brigade  in  General  Casey's  provisional  division,  to 
which  was  then  intrusted  the  charge  of  the  national  capital. 
In  the  following  December,  he  was  assigned  to  General  Sumner's 
command,  the  first  brigade  of  the  first  division  of  the  second  army 
corps,  in  McClellan's  Peninsula  campaign.  At  Fair  Oaks,  June 
1,  1862,  while  gallantly  leading  a  decisive  charge,  he  was  struck 
in  the  right  arm  by  two  bullets,  one  near  the  wrist  and  the  other 
at  the  elbow ;  he  did  not  leave  the  field,  however,  until  wounded 
a  second  time,  when  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  the  rear  and  submit 
to  an  amputation  of  the  limb.  In  the  words  of  a  friend,  "  Weak 
and  fainting  from  hemorrhage  and  the  severe  shock  which  his 
system  had  sustained,  the  next  day  he  started  for  his  home  in 
Maine.  He  remained  there  only  about  two  months,  during 
which  time  he  was  not  idle.  Visiting  various  localities  in  his 
native  State,  he  made  patriotic  appeals  to  the  people  to  come 
forward  and  sustain  the  Government.  Pale,  emaciated,  and 
with  one  sleeve  tenantless,  he  stood  up  before  them,  the  embodi- 
ment of  all  that  is  good  and  true  and  noble  in  manhood.  He 
talked  to  them  as  only  one  truly  loyal  can  talk — as  one  largely 
endowed  with  that  patriotism  which  is  a  heritage  of  New  Eng- 
land blood.  Modesty,  sincerity  and  earnestness  characterized 
his  addresses,  and  his  fervent  appeals  drew  hundreds  around  the 
national  standard."  Before  he  had  recovered  from  his  wound, 
and  against  the  advice  of  his  surgeon,  he  hastened  to  the  front, 
and  at  the  head  of  a  brigade  of  the  second  (French's)  division, 
(his  own  being  temporarily  commanded  by  General  Caldwell,) 
he  took  part  in  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Eun ;  and  in  the  re- 
treat from  Centreville  he  commanded  the  rear-guard.  At  Antie- 
tam  he  succeeded  General  Sedgwick,  who  was  wounded,  in  com- 


170  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

mand  of  his  division.  On  the  13th  of  December,  at  the  battle 
of  Fredericksburg,  he  led  his  division,  in  support  of  General 
French's,  in  the  heroic  charge  made  upon  the  rebel  position  in 
the  rear  of  that  city.  In  this  attempt — in  which  the  Union 
troops,  in  the  words  of  their  commander,  "did  all  that  men 
could  do — Howard's  brigade  alone  lost  nearly  a  thousand  men." 

During  the  succeeding  winter  he  held  the  command  of  the 
second  division  of  the  second  corps ;  and,  in  April,  1863,  was 
confirmed  as  major-general  of  volunteers  (his  commission 
dating  from  the  29th  of  the  preceding  November),  and  was 
transferred  to  the  command  of  the  eleventh  corps,  thereby  re- 
lieving General  Sigel.  His  new  command  was  composed  of 
German  troops,  many  of  whom  could  not  even  speak  the 
English  language  and  all  enthusiastically  devoted  to  their 
former  commander,  who,  for  some  inscrutable  governmental 
reason,  had  so  suddenly  been  taken  away  from  them.  With 
these  men,  good  and  true  soldiers,  yet  demoralized  to  a  certain 
degree  by  the  change  of  command,  and  before  time  had  been 
afforded  to  him  for  re-organiz  ng  them  or  becoming  better  known 
to  them,  General  Howard  was  fated  to  meet  the  first  onset  of 
the  rebel  attack  at  Chancellorsville.  Under  the  unexpected  and 
crushing  blow,  and  despite  the  heroic  endeavors  of  Howard 
himself,  they  broke  and  ran,  causing  a  panic  which  had  well 
nigh  proved  the  irretrievable  ruin  of  the  whole  Union  army. 

The  eleventh  and  its  commander  keenly  felt  the  dishonor  of 
this  day — but  the  noble-hearted  and  patient  Lincoln's  confi- 
dence in  the  subject  of  our  sketch  was  unshaken,  and  when  a 
change  of  commanders  was  urged,  he  simply  replied,  "  Howard 
will  bring  it  up  to  the  work,  only  give  him  time."  And 
jplendidly  did  Howard  and  his  men  redeem  their  credit  upon 
ihe  battle- fiel  4  of  Gettysburg,  on  the  first,  second,  and  third  of 
July,  1863.  It  was  to  his  happy  forethought,  on  the  first  day 


MAJOR-GENERAL   OLIVER   OTIS   HOWARD.  171 

of  that  battle,  in  seizing  Cemetery  Hill,  that  we  may  in  a  great 
measure,  attribute  the  favorable  results  of  the  fighting  on  the 
two  succeeding  days.  It  "  was  one  of  those  divine  inspirations 
on  which  destinies  turn,"  giving  him  a  stronghold  of  defence 
and  shelter,  when,  as  he  must  have  foreseen,  and  as  happened 
three  hours  later,  he  was  obliged  to  retire  in  the  face  of  an 
enemy  more  than  double  his  own  number.  And,  on  this  hill, 
the  natural  centre  of  the  Union  lines,  the  eleventh  corps,  burn- 
ing to  wipe  out  the  memory  of  Chancellorsville,  met  and  terri- 
bly repulsed  the  brunt  of  the  attack  by  the  rebel  General 
Ewell's  division,  at  sunset  of  the  second  day.  On  the  third 
day  of  this  terrible  fight,  Howard's  corps  still  held  the  same 
position,  grimly  watching  the  sublime  panorama  of  battle 
which  unrolled  before  them.  "I  have  seen  many  men  in 
action,"  wrote  an  eye-witness,  "  but  never  one  so  imperturba- 
bly  cool  as  this  general  of  the  eleventh  corps.  I  watched  him 
closely  as  a  minie  whizzed  overhead.  I  dodged,  of  course.  I 
never  expect  to  get  over  that  habit.  But  I  am  confident  that 
he  did  not  move  a  muscle  by  the  fraction  of  a  hair's  breadth." 
At  last,  however,  came  the  furious  final  charge  of  the  desper- 
ate veterans  of  Lee's  army,  recklessly  bent  on  obtaining  posses- 
sion of  Cemetery  Hill.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  cannon  concen- 
trated their  unintermitted  and  terrific  fire  upon  the  Union 
centre  (Howard's  position)  and  the  left — but  Howard  simply 
ordered  one  after  another  of  his  guns  to  be  quiet,  as  if  silenced 
by  the  enemy's  fire,  and  his  gunners  flung  themselves  flat  upon 
the  ground.  Suddenly,  as  the  rebel  line,  in  huge  semicircular 
sweep,  reached  the  Emmetsburg  road,  the  Germans  of  the 
eleventh  corps  sprang  to  their  guns,  and  along  the  whole  front 
of  the  Union  centre  and  left,  more  than  four  miles  long — there 
rained  such  a  storm  of  fiery,  pitiless  hail  of  death-bolts  upon  the 
advancing  foe,  as  swept  away  not  only  the  last  hope  of 


172  MEN   OF  OUR  DAY. 

the  Confederate  chieftain,  but,  almost  literally,  his  best  army. 
Gettysburg  was  won,  and  the  North  was  saved.  President 
Lincoln  sent  to  Howard  an  autograph  letter  of  thanks  for  his 
inestimable  services,  and  Congress  passed  a  vote  of  similar 
import.  General  Hancock  having  been  severely  wounded  in 
this  battle,  the  command  of  his  corps  (the  second)  was  given  to 
Howard. 

In  the  fall  of  1863,  after  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  Generals 
Howard  and  Hooker,  with  their  corps,  were  sent  to  reinforce 
Eosecrans,  in  Tennessee,  and  at  Chattanooga  came  under  the 
command  of  General  Grant,  who  had  then  recently  assumed  the 
leadership  of  the  Military  Division  of  the- Mississippi.  Here  it 
was,  also,  that  Howard  became  acquainted  with  General  Sherman, 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  an  intimacy  which  increased  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  Together  they  led  their  respective  corps  in 
the  assault  upon  Fort  Buckner,  on  the  second  day  of  the  battle 
for  the  possession  of  Mission  Ridge  (November  25,  1863),  and  it 
was  Howard's  cavalry  which  contributed  largely  to  the  more 
complete  discomfiture  of  the  routed  rebels,  by  the  destruction 
of  the  Dalton  and  Cleveland  railroad.  In  the  long  and  severe 
march  of  Sherman,  to  the  relief  of  General  Burnside,  at  Knox- 
ville,  in  December,  1863,  General  Howard  bore  a -conspicuous 
part,  winning  the  highest  commendation  for  fidelity  and  intelli- 
gence from  Sherman,  who  says,  in  his  official  report :  "  In  Gen- 
eral Howard  throughout,  I  found  a  polished  and  Christian 
gentleman,  exhibiting  the  highest  and  most  chivalrous  traits 
of  the  soldier."  During  the  whole  of  General  Sherman's  march 
to  Atlanta  (May  to  August,  1864),  General  Howard  and  his 
men  did  splendid  service.  During  the  siege  of  that  place,  the 
brave  and  beloved  General  McPherson  was  killed  on  the  21st 
of  July,  and  his  command,  that  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
was  given,  by  the  President,  at  General  Sherman's  request,  to 


MAJOR-GENERAL   OLIVER   OTIS   HOWARD.  173 

Major-General  Howard.  In  the  opening  movement  (on  the 
29th  of  August)  of  General  Sherman's  feint  towards  raising  the 
siege  of  Atlanta,  General  Howard's  column  was  impetuously- 
attacked  by  Lee  and  Hardee's  rebel  force,  and  repulsed  them 
with  terrible  slaughter ;  and  again,  at  Jonesboro,  on  the  31st  of 
August,  he  dealt  to  Hood's  army  the  last  crushing  blow,  which 
drove  him  routed  from  Atlanta,  thenceforth  open  to  the  Union 
troops. 

In  Sherman's  "  March  to  the  Sea,"  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah, 
Major-General  Howard  led  the  right  wing,  marching  down  the 
Macoii  road,  destroying  the  railroad,  and  scattering  the  rebel 
cavalry — and  passing  through  Jackson,  Monticello,  and  Hills- 
boro,  to  Milledgeville,  the  capital  of  the  State,  where  he  was 
joined  by  the  left  wing  of  the  army,  under  General  Slocum. 
From  Millen,  the  united  army  moved  down  on  either  bank  of 
the  Ogeechee  river,  and  Howard's  column,  by  the  8th  of  Decem- 
ber, had  reached  and  seized  the  Gulf  railroad,  within  twenty 
miles  of  Savannah.  On  the  night  of  the  9th,  Howard  commu- 
nicated, by  scouts,  with  a  Union  gunboat  lying  two  miles  below 
Fort  McAllister — which  shortly  after  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Union  troops — and  Generals  Sherman  and  Howard  went  down 
to  the  fleet  in  a  small  boat,  where  they  met  Admiral  Dahlgren. 
Their  great  work  was  done,  and  Savannah  was  a  splendid  Christ- 
mas gift  to  the  President,  and  to  the  nation.*  Early  in  February 

*  A  story  is  told  of  this  boat  voyage,  which  illustrates,  to  some  extent, 
the  characters  of  both  General  Sherman  and  General  Howard.  On  finding 
the  fort  carried,  and  his  army  again  in  communication  with  the  Union 
army  and  navy,  General  Sherman  was  much  elated  and  jubilant,  and  soon 
after  they  embarked,  he  said :  "  I  feel  good ;  I  want  to  sing  or  shout,  but 
my  musical  education  was  neglected.  Boys"  (to  the  staff  officers  in  the 
boat),  "can't  you  sing  something?"  The  "boys"  seemed  at  a  loss. 
"Howard,"  said  the  general,  "I  know  you  can  sing,  for  I  have  heard 
you."  " But,  general,"  replied  Howard,  " I  can't  sing  anything  but  hymn 


174  MEN"   OF   OUR   DAY. 

commenced  the  march  through  the  Carolinas,  in  which  Howard 
again  led  the  right  wing,  moving  towards  Beaufort,  and  menac- 
ing Charleston — and  finally  entering  Columbia,  the  capital  of 
the  Palmetto  State.  Then  pressing  into  North  Carolina,  they 
met  and  whipped  Johnston's  rebel  army  at  Averysboro,  on  the 
20th  of  March,  1865 ;  and  while  on  the  march  for  Raleigh,  on 
the  12th  of  April,  were  delighted  by  the  glad  news  of  Lee's 
surrender. 

Congress,  at  the  close  of  the  march  of  Sherman's  army  to  the 
sea,  in  December  1864,  promoted  Gerferal  Howard  to  the  rank 
of  brigadier-general  in  the  regular  army,  his  commission  dating 
from  the  21st  of  December,  1864,  and  the  Thirty-ninth  Con- 
gress, at  their  first  session,  conferred  on  him  the  brevet  rank  of 
major-general  in  the  regular  army,  dating  from  March  13,  1865. 

When  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
lamented  Lincoln,  determined  upon  the  organization  of  a 
"  Bureau  of  Freedmen,  Eefugees,  and  Abandoned  Lands,"  it  was 
felt  almost  instinctively  that  General  Howard  was  the  man  to 
be  at  the  head  of  it,  and  no  nomination  made  by  the  Secretary 
of  War  was  more  heartily  approved  than  that  by  which  he  was 
named  commissioner.  Owing  to  the  necessary  duties  connected 
with  the  closing  up  of  his  command  of  the  right  wing  of  General 
Sherman's  army,  General  Howard  was  unable  to  take  charge  of 
his  Bureau  until  May  12th,  1865.  In  its  organization  there 
were  manifold  difficulties  to  be  overcome.  The  act  was  loosely 
drawn ;  many  matters  were  left  discretionary  with  the  commis- 
sioner and  his  assistants,  in  which  these  duties  should  have  been 

tunes.  I^don't  know  any  thing  else."  "  Those  will  be  just  as  good  as  any 
thing  else,"  said  the  commanding  general ;  "  sing  them."  And  so,  as  they 
ran  down  to  the  squadron,  Howard  made  the  air  vocal  with  "  Shining 
Shore,"  "  Homeward  Bound,"  and  "  Rock  of  Ages ;"  the  staff  officers 
joining  in,  and  Sherman  occasionally  trying  a  stave  or  two — though  it 
was  evident,  as  ne  said,  that  his  musical  education  had  been  neglected. 


MAJOR-GENERAL    OLIVER   OTIS   HOWARD.  175 

defined ;  and  their  authority  in  many  particulars  was  insufficient 
to  enforce  measures  which  were  absolutely  necessary ;  still,  the 
affairs  of  the  Bureau  were  managed  with  a  discretion,  an  integ- 
rity and  a  conscientious  regard  for  right  in  the  conflicting  inter- 
ests of  the  freedinan  and  his  former  master,  which  won  for  the 
commissioner  and  his  subordinates  the  esteem  and  respect  of 
the  intelligent  and  loyal  of  all  classes. 

When  Mr.  Johnson  began  to  drift  back  to  his  old  affinities 
with  the  rebels,  and  to  sympathize  with  those  whom  he  had  at 
first  so  loudly  proclaimed  must  be  severely  punished,  the  Freed- 
men's  Bureau,  and  its  upright  and  faithful  commissioner,  became 
objects  of  his  utter  aversion.  He  recommended  that  the  Bureau 
should  not  be  suffered  to  exist  beyond  the  time  specified  in  the 
first  organic  act,  viz.,  two  years ;  and  when  a  new  Freedmen's 
Bureau  bill  passed  both  houses  of  Congress,  he  vetoed  it, 
attempting  in  a  long  argument  to  show  the  needlessness  of  any 
such  Bureau  of  the  Government.  The  bill  was  not  passed  over 
his  veto,  but  later  in  the  session  a  better  bill,  re-organizing  it  in 
some  particulars,  but  retaining  its  substantial  features  and  con- 
templating the  retention  of  General  Howard  as  commissioner, 
was  passed  by  a  strong  vote,  and  when  Mr.  Johnson  vetoed  it, 
was  passed  again  by  the  constitutional  majority  of  two-thirds. 
Mr.  Johnson  then  gave  out  that  he  had  determined  upon  the  re- 
moval of  General  Howard  from  the  commissionership,  but  as  the 
Tenure  of  Office  act  clearly  prohibited  this,  he  has  been  obliged 
to  allow  him  to  remain,  but  has  done  what  he  could  to  hinder 
him  from  accomplishing  what  he  desired.  The  President  has  par- 
doned, whenever  application  has  been  made,  and  sometimes 
even  without  application,  the  most  violent  rebels,  especially  if 
their  lands  had  been  confiscated  and  were  inuring  to  the  bene- 
fit of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  and  has  invariably  ruled  that  his 
pardon  entitled  them  to  the  restoration  of  all  their  lands  unless 


176  ME^  OF  OUR 

these  had  been  sold  for  the  non-payment  of  the  direct  revenue 
tax.  This  action  of  the  President  has  in  many  instances  seri- 
ously crippled  the  usefulness  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  taking 
from  it  a  source  of  legitimate  revenue  and  often  requiring  the 
relinquishment  of  lands  occupied  by  colonies  of  freedmen,  or 
for  schools  or  churches  for  their  intellectual  or  religious  in- 
struction ;  but,  during  the  whole  period,  General  Howard  hag 
maintained  a  discreet  and  dignified  course.  He  has  done  all 
that  lay  in  his  power  to  promote  both  common  and  higher 
education  among  the  people  of  color,  co-operating  with  the 
voluntary  freedmen's  associations  and  commissions  in  the 
maintenance  of  schools,  and  founding  a  university  for  them  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  Washington,  while  he  has,  so  far  as 
possible,  furthered  the  efforts  of  religious  bodies  for  the  better 
education  of  native  colored  preachers  and  teachers. 

Literary  honors  have  been  profusely  showered  on  the  general ; 
"Waterville  (now  Colby)  college,  Maine,  and  Shurtleff  college, 
Illinois,  both  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  LL.D.  in  1865, 
and  the  Gettysburg  Seminary  did  the  same  in  1866. 

Major-General  Howard  has  proved  himself  a  true  man  under 
all  circumstances.  In  his  military  career,  he  was  always  cairn, 
brave  to  the  verge  of  rashness,  unconscious  of  fear,  and  at  all 
times  capable  of  making  the  best  dispositions  possible  of  his 
troops ;  a  good  disciplinarian,  but  much  beloved  by  his  men, 
strictly  conscientious  and  commending  his  avowed  religious 
principles,  rather  by  a  pure,  holy,  and  consistent  life,  than  by 
any  ostentatious  displays  of  his  piety.*  In  his  administrative 

*  General  Sherman  once  said  of  him ;  "  I  believe  Howard  is  a  real  Chris- 
tian. My  wife  is  very  strict  in  her  religious  observances"  (Mrs.  Sherman  is 
a  Roman  Catholic),  "  and  that  is  all  very  well,  but  Howard  is  different.  He 
don't  make  any  parade  of  his  religion,  but  he  has  something  about  him, 
which  I  haven't,  but  which  I  wish  I  had." 


MAJOR-GENERAL    OLIVER    OTIS   HOWARD.  177 

• 

position,  lie  has  manifested  rare  ability,  in  the  midst  of  great 
difficulties ;  has  avoided  giving  offence  when  it  seemed  almost 
impossible  to  do  so ;  yet  he  has  never  failed  to  do  what  he  had 
the  power  to  do  for  the  poor  and  helpless,  or  to  protect  their 
rights,  so  far  as  his  authority  extended.  There  is,  we  hope,  a 
brilliant  and  useful  future  yet  before  this  young  and  capable 
officer. 

12 


SALMON    PORTLAND    CHASE. 


HIS  distinguished  statesman,  jurist  and  financier — whose 
somewhat  peculiar  baptismal  names  were  conferred  upon 
him  in  memory  of  a  deceased  uncle  Salmon,  a  resident 
of  the  town  of  Portland,  Maine — was  born  at  Cornish, 
New  Hampshire,  on  the  13th  of  January,  1808.  He  traces  his 
descent  from  Aquila  Chase,  a  native  of  Cornwall,  England,  who 
was  born  in  1618,  and,  while  quite  young,  came  to  America  and 
settled  at  Newburyport,  Massachusetts.  Dudley  Chase,  the 
grandfather  of  Secretary  Chase,  and  fourth  in  descent  from 
Aquila,  procured  a  grant  of  land  on  the  Connecticut  river,  north 
of  Charleston,  (or,  as  it  was  then  called,  Fort  No.  4,)  upon  which 
he  settled,  naming  the  township  Cornish,  in  honor  of  the  original 
home  of  his  English  ancestry.  His  children  became  notable 
persons  in  that  region ;  one  of  them,  Philander,  being  the  Epis- 
copal Bishop  of  Ohio,  and  the  founder  of  Kenyon  College ;  and 
another,  D.  P.  Chase,  became  Chief  Justice  of  Vermont.  Another 
brother,  Ithaman  Chase,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  a  fine  specimen  of  the  old-fashioned  New  Englander,  of  im- 
posing stature,  great  natural  dignity,  and  an  affability  of  manner 
which  rendered  him,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word,  a  gentleman. 
Sagacious,  honest,  energetic,  and— Yankee-like— turning  his 
hand  to  whatever  business  chance  offered,  he  succeeded,  as 

farmer,  merchant,  surveyor  and  manufacturer,  in  accumulating 
178 


SALMON   PORTLAND   CHASE.  179 

a  handsome  property.  He  secured,  also,  the  confidence  and 
good- will  of  his  fellow-citizens,  whom  he  long  served  in  the 
capacity  of  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  whom,  for  many  years, 
he  acceptably  represented  in  the  Executive  Council  of  New 
Hampshire.  The  close  of  the  "  war  of  1812  "  brought  disaster 
to  his  fortunes,  and  necessitated,  in  1815,  his  removal  to  Keene, 
New  Hampshire,  where,  two  years  later,  he  suddenly  died,  leav- 
ing his  family  with  little  else  than  the  heritage  of  an  honorable 
name  and  a  well-spent  life.  His  wife,  however,  who  was  of 
Scotch  descent,  and  possessed  much  of  the  energy  and  thrift 
characteristic  of  that  race,  had  inherited  from  her  parents  a  little 
property,  which  still  remained  intact  after  the  wreck  of  her 
husband's  fortunes.  By  a  careful  husbanding  of  her  resources, 
therefore,  she  was  enabled  to  keep  her  children  in  comparative 
comfort,  and  to  give  a  mother's  tender  thought  and  direction  to 
their  earlier  studies.  Young  Chase,  at  the  schools  of  Keene, 
and  afterwards  at  a  boarding  school,  kept  by  one  of  his  father's 
old  friends,  at  Windsor,  Vermont,  had  mastered  the  elementary 
parts  of  knowledge,  had  got  through  the  Latin  Grammar,  read 
a  little  in  Yirgil's  Bucolics,  and  had  commenced  Greek  and 
Euclid,  when,  in  the  spring  of  1820,  his  mother  received  from 
her  brother-in-law,  the  Bishop  of  Ohio,  an  offer  to  take  charge 
of  and  educate  the  lad.  The  proposition  was  joyfully  accepted, 
and,  before  long,  Salmon  started  on  his  long  journey  westward, 
in  company  with  his  elder  brother  Alexander,  who  had  just 
graduated  from  college,  and  was  going  (in  company  with  Henry 
E.  Schoolcraft,  since  distinguished  as  a  traveller,  ethnologist 
and  writer)  to  join  General  Cass's  expedition  to  the  Upper  Mis 
sissippi. 

At  Cleveland  the  young  traveller  parted  from  his  brother  and 
friend,  and  spent  nearly  a  month  with  a  friend  of  his  uncle, 
while  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  reach  that  relative,  who 


130  MEN   OF   OUR  DAY. 

resided  at  Worthington,  in  the  interior  of  the  State.  While 
thus  delayed,  the  boy  was  by  no  means  idle,  but  employed  him- 
self much  of  the  time  in  ferrying  travellers  across  the  Cuyahoga, 
upon  the  eastern  bank  of  which  stream  the  town  stood,  thereby 
adding  somewhat  to  his  slender  funds,  and  gaming  a  lesson  of 
industrious  self-reliance  which  was  of  much  use  to  him  in  the 
future.  At  length,  however,  an  opportunity  offered  for  Salmon's 
proposed  journey.  He  was  placed  in  charge  of  two  theological 
students,  en  route  for  Worthington,  on  horseback,  and  with  them 
— travelling  "  ride  and  tie,"  as  was  frequently  done  in  the  time 
of  the  early  settlement  of  the  West — he  made  the  long  trip 
through  the  woods,  fording  streams,  and  meeting  with  many 
adventures  which  were  full  of  interest  and  novelty.  Arriving 
at  Worthington,  he  was  received  into  the  family  of  his  uncle, 
the  bishop,  a  most  excellent  man,  but  a  rigid  disciplinarian, 
where  he  fulfilled  the  menial  office  of  "  chore  boy  "  during  the 
intervals  of  study.  In  mathematics  and  the  languages  he  made 
excellent  progress,  despite  the  disadvantages  under  which  he 
labored,  of  being  so  much  and  arduously  occupied  with  farm 
duties.  In  composition  he  was  proficient,  and  in  Greek  he  so 
far  excelled  as  to  be  the  Greek  orator  of  the  bishop's  school  at 
its  annual  exhibition  in  the  summer  of  1821.  One  of  his  inti- 
mate schoolmates  says :  "  Never  have  I  known  a  purer  or  more 
virtuous-minded  lad  than  he  was.  He  had  an  extreme  aversion 
to  any  thing  dishonorable  or  vicious.  He  was  industrious  and 
attentive  to  business.  Laboring  on  the  farm  of  his  uncle,  he 
missed  many  recitations,  and  had  but  limited  chances  for  study, 
yet,  having  a  natural  fondness  for  books,  he  was  surpassed  by 
no  one  of  his  age  in  the  school.  He  had  little  regard  for  his 
personal  appearance,  or,  indeed,  for  any  thing  external  His  mind 
appeared  to  be  directed  to  what  was  right,  regardless  of  the 
opinions  of  others."  In  the  fall  of  1822,  Bishop  Chase  removed 


SALMON   PORTLAND  CHASE.  181 

to  Cincinnati,  having  accepted  the  presidency  of  the  college 
there ;  and  here  a  somewhat  easier  life,  in  some  respects,  fell  to 
Salmon's  lot.  He  entered  the  freshman  class  of  the  college, 
and  studying  hard,  attained  the  rank  of  sophomore,  when  his 
studies  were  interrupted  by  the  removal,  in  August,  1823,  of  the 
bishop,  who  resigned  the  presidency,  in  order  to  visit  England, 
with  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  necessary  funds  for  a  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  Seminary  in  the  West,  an  effort  which  finally 
resulted  in  the  establishment  of  Kenyon  College.  Salmon 
returned  to  his  home  in  New  Hampshire,  travelling  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  way  on  foot ;  and,  after  a  short  period  of  school- 
teaching,  and  a  few  months  of  close  and  rapid  preparation  at 
the  academy  in  Eoyalton,  Vermont,  entered  the  junior  class  of 
Dartmouth  College.  During  his  collegiate  course,  an  incident 
occurred  strongly  indicative  of  that  innate  love  of  right  which 
has  ever  been  so  marked  a  feature  of  Mr.  Chase's  character. 
An  intimate  friend  and  classmate  having  been  arbitrarily  accused, 
and,  despite  his  asseverations  of  his  innocence,  condemned  to 
rustication,  by  the  faculty,  for  a  trivial  offence  committed  by 
other  parties,  Salmon  waited  upon  the  president,  protested 
against  the  decision  of  the  faculty  as  unjust,  and  finding  it  irre- 
vocable, declared  his  intention  to  leave  the  college  with  his 
friend— and  did  leave.  The  faculty  sent  a  messenger  after  them, 
who  overtook  them  on  the  road,  with  a  revocation  of  their  sen- 
tence ;  but  the  inexorable  young  men  did  not  return  until  they 
had  spent  a  pleasant  week  of  visiting  among  their  friends  and 
relatives ;  and  their  re-entry  into  Hanover  was  a  triumph.  As 
one  of  the  foremost  third  of  the  senior  class,  young  Chase  was 
admitted  into  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society,  and  at  his  gradua- 
tion, in  1826,  he  ranked  eighth,  delivering  an  oration  on  "Lit- 
erary Curiosity.  Going  directly  to  "Washington,  D.  C.,  he  an- 
nounced, in  the  columns  of  the  "  National  Intelligencer,"  of 


MEN   OP   OUR   DAY. 

December  23d,  1826,  his  intention  to  open  a  select  classical 
school  in  that  city  on  the  first  Monday  of  the  ensuing  year ;  but 
for  a  time  fortune  seemed  to  look  most  discouragingly  upon 
him.  Patience  and  courage,  however,  had  their  perfect  work ; 
and,  finally,  he  most  unexpectedly  received  the  offer  of  the  male 
department  of  a  well-established  classical  school,  the  proprietors 
of  which  had  determined  to  give  their  whole  time  and  attention 
to  the  female  department.  In  this  school  (in  a  little,  one-story 
frame  building  on  G  street,)  he  commenced  teaching,  receiving 
the  patronage  of  many  eminent  men,  among  whom  were  Henry 
Clay,  William  Wirt,  and  Samuel  L.  Southard,  who  entrusted 
their  sons  to  his  care.  While  thus  arduously  engaged,  he  occu- 
pied all  his  leisure  time  in  studying  law  under  William  Wirt, 
then  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States ;  and  upon  attaining 
his  majority,  in  1829,  closed  his  school,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  of  the  District  of  Columbia  in  February,  1830. 

On  the  4th,  of  March,  1830,  he  set  out  for  Cincinnati,  where 
he  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession,  with  an  energy 
and  perseverance  which  could  not  fail  to  secure  ultimate  success. 
He  formed  a  partnership  with  Edward  King,  Esq.,  son  of  the 
celebrated  Kufus  King,  which  however  was  of  short  duration;  and 
in  1833,  he  formed  another  connection  with  Mr.  Caswell,  a  lawyer 
of  established  reputation,  and,  while  striving  to  obtain  cases,  he 
diligently  busied  himself  with  the  compilation  of  the  statutes  of 
Ohio,  accompanied  with  copious  annotations  and  prefaced  with 
a  historical  sketch  of  the  State,  the  whole  forming  three  large 
octavo  volumes.  This  valuable  compendium — the  fruit  of  a 
careful  use  of  time  which  young  professional  men  too  often  fail 
to  improve — soon  superseded  all  other  editions  of  the  statutes, 
and  is  now  the  accepted  authority  in  the  courts.  While  the 
reading  and  investigations  necessary  to  the  compilation  of.  this 
work,  added  largely  to  his  stores  of  legal  knowledge,  the  admi- 


SALMON   PORTLAND   CHASE.  183 

rable  manner  in  which  it  was  prepared,  gave  its  young  author 
an  immediate  reputation  among  the  profession,  and  secured  him 
the  notice  and  respect  of  the  active  business  community  by 
which  he  was  surrounded.  It  was  the  stepping-stone  to  his 
fortune.  Early  in  1834,  he  was  made  the  solicitor  of  the  United 
States  bank,  in  Cincinnati,  to  which  was  soon  added  a  similar 
position  connected  with  another  of  the  city  banks,  and  he  was 
soon  engaged  in  the  full  tide  of  a  large  and  lucrative  commer- 
cial practice. 

In  1837  the  partnership  of  Caswell  and  Chase  was  dissolved, 
and  shortly  after  the  latter  formed  a  connection  with  Mr.  Ellis. 
Mr.  Chase  now  first  came  distinctly  and  prominently  before  the 
public,  in  connection  with  those  higher  interests  with  which  his 
name  is  now  so  widely  associated. 

In  July,  1836,  when  the  office  of  the  "  Philanthropist"  news- 
paper, published  by  James  Or.  Birney,  was  attacked  and  de- 
spoiled by  an  anti-slavery  mob,  Birney's  life  was  saved  by  the 
courage  of  Salmon  P.  Chase,  who,  from  that  time,  was  foremost 
among  those  who  breasted  the  tide  of  pro-slavery  aggressions. 

In  1837,  as  the  counsel  of  a  colored  fugitive  slave  woman, 
claimed  under  the  law  of  1793,  he  made  an  elaborate  argument 
denying  the  right  of  Congress  to  delegate  to  State  magistrates, 
powers  in  such  fugitive  slave  cases — a  position  since  sustained 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  and  maintained  that 
the  law  of  1793  was  void,  because  unwarranted  by  the  Consti- 
tution. 

In  passing  from  the  court  room  after  making  this  brave,  but 
ineffectual  defence  in  this  case,  he  overheard  the  remark  of  a 
prudent  citizen,  ''  There  is  a  promising  young  man  who  has  just 
ruined  himself"  Time  has  proved  how  erroneous  this  judgment 
was,  yet  it  was  then  the  popular  verdict.  During  the  same  year, 
Mr.  Chase  defended  James  Gr.  Birney,  who  was  tried  before  the 


184  MEN  OF  OUR  DAY- 

Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  for  Laboring  a  negro  slave— forcibly 
arguing  that  slavery  was  a  local  institution,  dependent  for  its 
existence  upon  State  legislation;  and  that  the  slave,  having 
been  brought  into  Ohio,  by  her  master,  was  de  facto  et  de  jure, 
free.  This  was  followed,  in  1838,  by  a  severe  review  from  his 
pen,  in  the  newspapers,  of  a  recent  report  made  by  the  Judiciary 
committee  of  the  State  Senate,  in  which  they  had  advocated 
the  refusal  of  trial  by  jury,  to  slaves.  He  also  acted  as  counsel 
for  Mr.  Birney,  in  his  trial  for  haboring  the  slave  Matilda ;  and, 
in  1842,  defended  one  Van  Zandt,  in  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court,  in  a  similar  trial,  in  which  the  principle  as  stated  by  the 
opposing  counsel,  "  Once  a  slave  always  a  slave,"  was  met  by 
Mr.  Chase  with  its  nobler  antithesis  "  Once  free,  ALWAYS  FREE  ;" 
and  he  followed  it  with  a  warning  and  eloquent  denunciation  of 
the  atrocious  claims  of  slavery.  In  these  cases,  Mr.  Chase  added 
materially  to  his  previous  honorable  reputation,  and  took  rank, 
thenceforward,  with  the  oldest  and  ablest  practitioners  of  Ohio. 
Up  to  this  time,  he  had  taken  but  little  part  or  interest  in 
politics,  nor  had  he  settled  down  into  the  trammels  of  any  par- 
ticular party — voting  sometimes  with  the  Democrats,  but  more 
generally  with  the  Whigs,  because  the  latter  seemed  most 
favorable  to  the  anti-slavery  doctrines  to  which  he  had  given 
his  conscientious  adherence.  He  supported  Harrison  for  the 
Presidency,  in  1840 ;  but,  becoming  convinced  from  the  tone  of 
his  inaugural  address  and  the  subsequent  course  of  the  Tyler 
administration  that  the  anti-slavery  cause  had  little  or  nothing 
to  hope  for  from  the  Whig  party,  and  that  the  cause  could 
only  attain  its  legitimate  aims,  which  he  considered  of  para- 
mount importance,  through  the  instrumentality  of  a  distinct 
party  organization,  he  united  with  others,  in  1841,  in  calling 
a  State  convention  of  the  opponents  of  slavery  and  slavery- 
extension.  The  convention  met  in  December,  organized  "the 


SALMON   PORTLAND   CHASE.  185 

Liberty  party"  of  Ohio,  nominated  a  candidate  for  governor, 
and  issued  an  address  (from  Mr  Chase's  pen)  defining  its 
principles  and  purposes,  which  was  one  of  the  earliest  exposi- 
tions of  the  anti-slavery  movement.  In  the  "  National  Liberty 
convention,"  held  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  in  1843,  Mr.  Chase 
was  a  prominent  participant,  and  as  a  member  of  the  committee 
on  resolutions,  so  vigorously  opposed  a  resolution  which  pro- 
posed "  to  regard  and  treat  the  third  clause  of  the  Constitution, 
whenever  applied  to  the  case  of  a  fugitive  slave,  as  utterly  null 
and  void,  and  consequently  as  forming  no  part  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  whenever  we  are  called  upon  or 
sworn  to  support  it," — that  it  was  not  adopted  by  the  committee, 
although  it  was  afterwards  moved  and  adopted  in  the  conven- 
tion. Years  afterward,  when  Senator  Butler,  of  South  Caro- 
lina, charged  Mr.  Chase  with  having  been  the  author  and 
advocate  of  this  resolution,  and  severely  denounced  the  doctrine 
of  mental  reservation  which  it  implied  ly  sanctioned,  the  latter 
replied,  "  I  never  proposed  the  resolution ;  I  never  would  pro- 
pose a  vote  for  such  a  resolution.  I  hold  no  doctrine  of  mental 
reservation;  every  man,  in  my  judgment,  should  speak  just  as 
he  thinks,  keeping  nothing  back,  here  or  elsewhere."  During 
the  same  year  Mr.  Chase  was  selected  to  prepare  an  address 
on  behalf  of  the  friends  of  Liberty,  of  Ireland  and  of  Repeal, 
in  Cincinnati,  in  reply  to  the  letter  from  Daniel  O'Connell,  in 
behalf  of  the  Loyal  National  Eepeal  Association  of  Ireland. 
This  address — which  reviewed  the  relations  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment to  slavery  at  the  period  x>f  its  organization,  set  forth  its 
original  anti-slavery  policy,  and  the  subsequent  growth  of  the 
political  power  of  slavery,  indicated  the  action  of  the  Liberal 
party,  and  repelled  the  aspersions  cast  by  a  Repeal  Association 
in  Cincinnati,  upon  anti-slavery  men — was  a  document  worthy 
of  Mr.  Chase's  talents.  With  Mr.  Chase,  also,  originated  the 


18(5  MEN   OF    OUR   DAY. 

Southern  and  "Western  Liberty  Convention,  held  at  Cincinnati,  in 
June,  1845,  and  designed,  in  the  words  of  its  founder,  to 
embrace  "  all  who,  believing  that  whatever  is  worth  preserving 
in  Kepublicanism  can  be  maintained  only  by  uncompromising 
war  against  the  usurpations  of  the  slave  power,  are  therefore, 
resolved  to  use  all  constitutional  and  honorable  means  to  effect 
the  extinction  of  slavery  in  their  respective  States,  and  its  re- 
duction to  its  constitutional  limits  in  the  United  States."  He 
also  drew  up  the  address  of  the  Convention,  embracing  a  his- 
tory of  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties  in  their  relations  to 
the  slavery  question,  and  urging  the  political  necessity  of 
forming  a  party  pledged  to  the  overthrow  of  the  institution. 

Mr.  Chase,  who  had  now  become  a  widely  distinguished 
champion  of  anti-slavery,  was  associated  with  "William  H. 
Seward  in  the  defence  of  John  Van  Zandt,  who  was  arraigned 
before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  for  aiding  in  the 
escape  of  certain  slaves ;  and  subsequently  he  was  retained  for 
the  defence  in  the  case  of  Dieskell  vs.  Parish,  before  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court,  at  Columbus,  Ohio.  In  both  of  these 
cases  he  argued,  in  a  most  elaborate  manner,  that,  "  under  the 
ordinance  of  1787,  no  fugitives  from  service  could  be  reclaimed 
from  Ohio,  unless  there  had  been  an  escape  from  one  of  the 
original  States;  that  it  was  the  clear  understanding  of  the 
framers  of  the  Constitution,  and  of  the  people  who  adopted  it, 
that  slavery  was  to  be  left  exclusively  to  the  disposal  of  the 
several  States,  without  sanction  or  support  from  the.  National 
Government;  and  that  the  clause  of  the  Constitution  relative  to 
persons  held  to  service  was  one  of  compact  between  the  States, 
and  conferred  no  power  of  legislation  on  Congress,  having  been 
transferred  from  the  ordinance  of  1787,  in  which  it  conferred  no 
power  on  the  Confederation  and  was  never  understood  to  con- 
fer any."  In  1847,  Mr.  Chase  attended  a  second  "National 


SALMON   PORTLAND   CHASE.  187 

Liberty  Convention ;"  where,  in  the  hope  that  the  agitation  of 
the  "Wilmot  Proviso  would  result  in  a  more  decided  movement 
against  slavery,  he  opposed  the  making  of  any  national  nomina- 
tions at  that  time.  He  anticipated,  also,  the  Whig  and 
Democratic  Conventions  of  1848,  bv  calling  a  Free-Territorv 

'         «/  •/ 

Convention,  which  resulted  in  the  Buffalo  Convention,  in 
August  of  that  year,  and  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  for 
the  presidency. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1849,  Mr.  Chase  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  by  the  entire  vote  of  the  Democrats,  and 
a  large  number  of  the  free-soil  members  of  the  Ohio  Legislature. 
Supporting  the  State  policy  and  the  nominees  of  the  Democracy 
of  the  State,  he  still  declared  that  he  would  desert  it  if  it  de- 
serted the  anti-slavery  position  which  it  then  held.  On  the  26th 
and  27th  of  March,  1849,  he  delivered  a  cogent,  eloquent  and 
timely  speech  against  the  compromise  resolutions ;  following  it 
up  during  the  session,  with  others  on  the  specialities  embraced 
within  these  resolution,  and  moved  three  amendments — one, 
against  the  introduction  of  slavery,  in  the  Territories  to  which 
Mr.  Clay's  bill  applied ;  another,  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  to 
secure  trial  by  jury  to  alleged  slave ;  and  the  third,  to  an  amend- 
ment made  by  Senator  Davis,  relative  to  the  reclamation  of 
fugitives  escaping  from  one  State  into  another — all  of  which, 
however,  were  lost. 

The  nomination  of  Franklin  Pierce  for  the  presidency,  and 
the  approval  of  the  compromise  of  1850,  by  the  Democratic 
Convention  at  Baltimore,  in  1852,  was  the  signal  for  Mr.  Chase's 
withdrawal  from  the  Ohio  Democracy.  He  immediately  took  the 
initiative  in  the  formation  of  an  Independent  Democratic  party, 
which  he  continued  to  support,  until  the  Nebraska-Kansas  bill 
began  to  be  agitated.  To  this  bill  he  was  a  strenuous  and 
prominent  opponent,  offering  three  important  amendments, 


MEN    OF    OUR    DAY. 

which  were  severally  rejected,  and  closing  his  opposition  by  an 
earnest  protest  against  it  on  its  final  passage.  During  his  Sena- 
torial career,  economy  in  the  National  Finances ;  a  Pacific  Kail- 
road  by  the  shortest  and  best  route ;  the  Homestead  Bill ;  Cheap 
Postage,  and  the  provision  by  the  National  Treasury  for  defray- 
ino-  the  expense  of  procuring  safe  navigation  of  the  Lakes  as 
well  as  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  all  found  in  Mr.  Chase 
an  able  and  earnest  champion.  In  1855,  he  was  elected  Gover- 
nor of  Ohio,  by  the  opponents  of  the  Pierce  administration,  and 
his  inaugural  address  recommended  single  districts  for  legisla- 
tive representation,  annual,  instead  of  biennial  sessions  of  the 
Legislature,  and  an  extended  educational  system.  At  the  next 
National  Eepublican  Convention,  he  declined  the  nomination 
for  the  Presidency,  which  was  urged  upon  him  by  the  delega- 
tions from  his  own,  as  well  as  other  States.  In  the  course  of 
the  same  year,  a  deficiency  was  discovered  in  the  State  treasury, 
only  a  few  days  before  the  semi-annual  interest  on  the  State 
debt  became  due — but  Governor  Chase's  energetic  action  com- 
pelled the  resignation  of  the  State  Treasurer,  who  had  concealed 
the  deficiency,  secured  a  thorough  investigation,  and  effected 
such  a  judicious  arrangement  as  protected  the  credit  of  the 
State,  and  averted  what  would  otherwise  have  been  a  serious 
pecuniary  loss. 

At  the  close  of  his  first  gubernatorial  term,  the  Eepublicans 
insisted  upon  his  accepting  a  re-nomination,  which  was  carried 
by  acclamation,  and  he  was  re-elected  after  a  spirited  canvass.  In 
his  annual  message  for  1858,  he  made  an  elaborate  exposition  of 
the  financial  condition  of  Ohio,  recommending,  also,  semi-annual 
taxation,  a  greater  stringency  in  provisions  for  the  security  of 
the  State  treasury,  and  proper  appropriations  for  the  establish- 
ment of  benevolent  institutions,  especially  for  the  Eeform 
School— all  of  which  suggestions  met  with  the  approval  of  the 


SALMON   PORTLAND   CHASE.  189 

Legislature,  and  laws  were  passed  in  accordance  therewith.  In 
the  beginning  of  1860,  he  was  again  chosen  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  from  Ohio. 

Upon  the  secession  of  South  Carolina,  in  December,  1860, 
Mr.  Chase  urged  upon  General  Scott,  by  letter,  the  necessity  of 
taking  active  measures  to  secure  the  public  property,  assuring 
him  that  the  country  would  fully  endorse  such  action.  But 
timid  counsels  prevailed.  Again,  in  February,  1861,  Mr.  Chase 
represented  Ohio  at  the  Conference  of  the  States,  held  at  Wash- 
ington, by  invitation  of  Virginia,  and  there  he  stood  boldly  out 
as  an  uncompromising  opponent  of  any  purchase  of  peace  by 
undue  concessions  to  the  South.  Meanwhile,  when  threats  were 
made  that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  never  be  inaugurated,  unless  the 
South  received  the  concessions  it  demanded  from  the  North,  Mr. 
Chase  replied,  "  Inauguration  first,  adjustment  afterwards," 
words  which,  caught  up  and  used  as  a  popular  motto,  had  no 
small  influence. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  he  took  a  seat  in  the  Senate.  Two 
days  afterwards,  however,  he  yielded  to  a  very  general  and 
pressing  demand,  on  the  part  of  personal  and  political  friends, 
(as  well  as  some  who,  up  to  that  time,  had  not  been  considered 
as  either),  and  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  to  accept  the  Sec- 
retaryship of  the  Treasury,  which  had  been  tendered  him  by 
President  Lincoln.  Immediately  after  the  organization  of  the 
Cabinet,  and  when  the  most  important  topic  under  discussion 
was,  what  should  be  the  policy  of  the  Government  towards  the 
seceded  States,  Mr.  Chase's  influence  was  strongly  felt,  in  the 
national  councils.  When  hostilities  commenced  at  Sumter,  the 
Secretary  urged  upon  General  Scott  the  propriety  of  occupying 
Manassas,  which,  had  it  been  done,  would  have  compelled  the 
evacuation  of  Harper's  Ferry  and  the  Shenandoah  valley  by 
the  rebels,  and  would  have  materially  altered  the  character  of 


190  MEN   OF    OUR   DAY. 

the  opening  campaign  of  the  war.  To  Mr.  Chase's  suggestion, 
also,  was  due  the  call,  promulgated  in  May,  1861,  for  65,000 
volunteers,  to  take  the  place  of  the  75,000  first  called  for ; 
and  to  him  the  President  committed,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  the  preparation  of  the  necessary  orders — 
since  known  as  Nos.  15  and  16 — the  one  for  the  enlistment  of 
volunteers  and  the  other  for  regular  regiments.  The  object 
which  Mr.  Chase  had  in  view  was  the  establishment  of  a  regular 
system — which  had  not  hitherto  existed — in  conformity  with 
which  all  new  enlistments  should  be  made,  and  in  this  important 
work  he  was  assisted  by  Colonel  Thomas,  Major  McDowell  and 
Captain  Franklin.  During  the  trying  period,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  war,  when  great  efforts  were  made  to  precipitate  Missouri, 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  into  rebellion,  Mr.  Lincoln  committed 
to  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  the  principal  charge  of  what- 
ever related  to  the  conservation  and  protection  of  the  interests 
of  the  Government  in  those  States.  He  obtained  for  Eousseau, 
of  Kentucky,  his  colonel's  commission,  and  gave  him  his  order 
for  the  raising  of  twenty,  companies.  He  also  drew  most  of  the 
orders  under  which  Nelson  acted,  and  furnished  him  with  the 
means  of  defraying  his  expenses  for  the  expedition  into  the 
interior  of  Kentucky,  and  the  establishment  of  Camp  Dick 
Robinson — movements  which  saved  that  State  from  secession. 
He  was  the  honored  confidant  and  adviser  .of  General  Cameron, 
while  Secretary  of  "War,  especially  in  relation  to  western  border- 
state  matters,  slavery,  and  the  employment  of  colored  troops ; 
and  it  was  at  his  suggestion  that  General  Butler  was  directed  by 
the  Secretary  of  "War  to  refrain  from  surrendering  alleged  fugi- 
tives from  service  to  alleged  masters,  and  to  employ  them  under 
such  organization  and  in  such  occupations  as  circumstances 
might  suggest  or  require.  It  was,  however,  in  the  discharge  of 
his  legitimate  duties,  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  that  Mr. 


SALMON   PORTLAND   CHASE.  191 

Chase  achieved  his  greatest  success.  The  treasury,  at  the  time 
when  he  assumed  its  charge,  was  nearly  bankrupt.  He,  there- 
fore, immediately  proceeded  to  negotiate  a  loan.  On  the  22d  of 
March,  1861,  he  issued  proposals  for  his  first  loan  of  $8,000,000 
on  six  per  cent,  bonds,  redeemable  at  the  end  of  twenty  years. 
The  bids  were  opened  April  2d,  and  amounted  to  $27,182,000, 
at  rates  varying  from  eighty-five  for  one  hun  d  to  par.  All 
bids  below  ninety-four  were  promptly  rejected  by  the  Secretary, 
who  determined  to  let  the  country  know  at  the  outset  that  bonds 
of  the  United  States  were  not  to  be  sacrificed  in  the  market, 
and  that  the  national  credit  was  not  so  impaired  as  to  be  at  the 
mercy  of  brokers  and  capitalists.  The  disappointed  bidders 
winced  at  this  decision,  but  its  effect  upon  the  country  at  large 
was  certainly  healthy. 

Continuing  to  effect  loans  under  existing  laws,  he  borrowed, 
on  the  llth  of  April,  $4,901,000,  on  two  years  treasury  notes,  at  a 
small  premium ;  on  25th  of  May,  $7,310,000,  on  twenty  years 
bonds,  at  from  eighty-five  to  ninety-eight,  declining  all  bids 
below  ninety -five ;  and  on  two  years  treasury  notes,  $1,684,000 
at  par,  all  of  which  loans,  considering  the  situation  of  the  coun- 
try, were  remarkable  successes.  Congress,  on  its  assembling  in 
July,  1861,  authorized  a  national  loan,  under  which  act,  and  the 
acts  amending  it,  he  took  measures  to  secure  the  funds  needed 
to  carry  on  the  war.  The  result  of  a  full  and  frank  conference 
with  the  representatives  of  the  banks  of  Boston,  Philadelphia 
and  New  York,  at  the  latter  city,  was  an  agreement,  on  the  part 
of  the  banks,  to  unite  as  associates  in  an  advance  to  Government 
of  $50,000,000 ;  while  he,  on  his  part,  agreed  to  appeal  to  the 
people  for  subscriptions  to  a  national  loan,  on  three  years  notes, 
bearing  seven-thirty  per  cent,  interest,  and  convertible  into 
twenty  years  bonds  bearing  six  per  cent.,  the  proceeds  of  which 
subscriptions  should  be  paid  over  to  the  banks,  in  satisfaction 


192  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

of  their  advances,  so  far  as  they  would  go ;  the  deficiency,  if 
any,  to  be  made  good  in  seven-thirty  notes.  By  this  and  a  sub- 
sequent loan,  made  on  nearly  the  same  terms,  the  Government 
obtained  $100,000,000  at  a  rate  of  interest  only  one  and  three- 
tenths  of  one  per  cent,  higher  than  the  ordinary  rate  of  six  per 
cent.,  and  that  for  three  years  only.  The  banks  now  declining  to 
advance  another  $50,000,000  for  the  seven-thirty  notes,  through 
the  efforts  of  the  Secretary,  a  seven  per  cent,  loan  was  negotiated 
on  the  16th  of  November,  but  trouble  resulted  from  the  oppo- 
sition of  many  of  the  banks  to  the  further  issue  of  United  States 
notes  as  legal  tender,  in  distinction  to  their  own  local  issues,  and 
the  Secretary  now  applied  the  remedy  to  this  state  of  affairs  by 
uniting  his  whole  influence  to  those  who  desired  the  United 
States  notes  made  a  legal  tender,  and  by  joining  them,  decided 
the  success  of  that  measure,  which  he  had  previously  urged  upon 
Congress. 

It  was,  however,  only  by  the  most  indomitable  perseverance 
that  he  was  enabled,  after  several  defeats  and  long  delay,  to 
secure  the  passage  of  the  National  Banking  Act,  providing  for 
a  system  of  national  banks,  based  upon  government  securities. 
This  system,  which  embraces  the  best  features  of  the  New  York 
Free  Banking  System,  together  with  certain  additions  protec- 
tive of  the  rights  both  of  the  bill-holder  and  depositor,  has 
proved  most  successful,  and,  although  at  first  vehemently 
opposed  by  some  of  the  State  and  local  banks,  has  now  fairly 
triumphed  over  all  opposition.  In  the  negotiation  of  these 
loans,  Mr.  Chase  secured  the  services  of  Mr.  Jay  Cooke,  an  emi- 
nent financier  of  Philadelphia,  as  general  agent,  who  by  his 
numerous  agencies,  and  a  wholesale  and  ingenious  system  of 
advertising,  gave  the  widest  possible  publicity  to  the  loan,  and 
secured  for  it  the  full  favor  of  the  community  throughout  the 
United  States.  By  January  1st,  1864,  five  hundred  millions  of 


SALMON   PORTLAND   CHASE.  193 

the  loan  (5-20  bonds)  was  taken  up,  and  the  subscriptions  were  in 
excess,  by  nearly  fourteen  millions,  of  the  amount  authorized. 
The  full  measure  of  the  Secretary's  comprehensive  plans  was 
insured  by  the  enactment,  in  1864,  of  tax  laws,  in  accordance 
with  his  repeated  suggestions  since  1861,  by  which  the  revenue 
to  the  government  was  largely  increased,  and  by  the  aid  of 
which  future  secretaries  of  the  treasury  will  be  enabled  to 
"weather"  any  financial  pressure.  This  great  work  accom- 
plished, he  resigned  his  secretaryship,  June  SO,  1864. 

The  great  importance  and  beneficial  results  of  Mr.  Chase's 
financial  measures,  adopted  as  they  were  in  the  heat  and  pres- 
sure of  the  most  stupendous  war  of  modern  times,  and  initiated 
with  a  bankrupt  treasury,  and  notice  in  advance  from  the  great 
financial  powers  of  Europe,  that  we  "  need  not  expect  any  assist- 
ance from  them,"  render  it  desirable  that  they  should  be 
somewhat  better  understood  than  they  have  been,  and  we  there- 
fore gladly  avail  ourselves  of  the  following  explanations  of  them, 
recently  put  forth,  it  is  understood,  with  his  own  sanction. 

The  objects  which  he  had  in  view,  were: 

"I.  To  establish  satisfactory  relations  between  the  public 
credit  and  the  productive  industry  of  the  country — in  other 
words,  to  obtain  supplies.  The  suspension  of  the  banks  put  an 
end  to  the  first  and  most  obvious  resort,  loans  of  gold,  and  made 
new  methods  indispensable.  Then  the  secretary  resorted  to 
legal  tender  notes,  made  them  a  currency,  and  borrowed  them 
as  cash.  The  patriotism  of  the  people  came  in  aid  of  the  labors 
of  the*  treasury  and  the  legislation  of  Congress,  and  the  first 
great  object  was  made  secure. 

"  II.  To  provide  against  disastrous  results  on  a  return  of 
peace.  This  could  only  be  done  by  providing  a  national  cur- 
rency. There  were  about  1,500  State  banks  in  existence  which 
wanted  to  make  their  own  paper  the  currency  of  the  country 
This  the  secretary  resisted,  and  confined  his  loans  to  greenbacks ; 
but  he  did  not  drive  out  their  currency,  nor  indeed  did  he  think 
13 


194  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

it  exactly  honest  to  so  deprive  them  of  it,  without  giving  any 
equivalent.  He  preferred  to  neutralize  their  opposition  to  a 
national  currency  and  make  them  allies  as  far  as  possible,  instead 
of  enemies.  In  his  endeavors  to  secure  such  results,  he  proposed 
the  national  banking  system,  and  before  he  left  the  Department 
its  success  was  assured. 

"The  national  banks  were  certain  to  be  useful  in  many 
ways,  but  the  secretary's  main  object  was  the  establishment  of  a 
national  currency.  This  saved  us  from  panic  and  revulsion 
at  the  end  of  the  war,  and  is  of  inestimable  value  to  men  of 
labor  and  men  of  business — indeed,  to  every  class. 

"  III.  The  third  division  of  his  labor  was  to  provide  a  fund- 
ing system.  It  was  unavoidable  during  the  rebellion  that 
every  means  of  credit  should  be  used.  He  borrowed  money 
every  way  he  could  at  reasonable  rates.  The  form  that  suited 
one  lender  did  not  suit  another ;  and  the  army  and  navy  needed 
every  dollar  that  could  be  raised  in  any  form.  Hence  tem- 
porary loans,  certificates  of  deposit,  certificates  of  indebtedness, 
7.30  notes,  compound  interest  notes,  treasury  notes  payable 
after  one  and  two  years,  etc. 

"But  it  was  necessary  to  have  funding  loans,  into  which  all 
these  temporary  loans  could  be  ultimately  merged.  To  this  end 
the  secretary  established  the  5-20  loan  and  the  10-40  loan.  His 
belief  was  that  after  the  $514,000,000  of  the  5-20  loan  had  been 
taken,  the  additional  amounts  needed  could  be  obtained  by  the 
10-40  loan  and  the  temporary  loans;  but  the  secretary  was 
ready  to  resort  to  the  5 -20s  in  case  of  emergency.  He  did  get 
$73,000,000  in  the  10-40  loan,  and  his  successors  got  about 
$120,000,000  more,  at  par. 

"  It  is  easy  to  see  how  Mr.  Chase's  funding  system  worked, 
by  examining  the  last  statement  of  the  public  debt.  The  condi- 
tion is  something  like  this:  $1,200,000,000  5-20s;  $200,000,000 
1040s;  $200,000,000  81s  payable  now  after  fourteen  years, 
which  can  then  easily  be  put  into  10-40s ;  other  loans  (all  tem- 
porary), say  $500,000,000,  of  which  three  fourths  consist  of 
7.30s,  convertible,  and  certain  to  be  converted  into  10-40s ;  and 
say  $400,000,000  greenbacks,  including  fractional  currency, 


SALMON   POKTLAND   CHASE.  195 

making  the  debt  of  $2,500,000,000.  So,  it  may  be  seen,  the 
whole  debt  except  '81s  is  already  funded,  or  sure  to  be  funded 
in  5-20  six  per  cents,  or  10-40  five  per  cents." 

It  has  been  well  said  of  Mr.  Chase's  conduct  in  this  hazardous 
and  laborious  position,  that  "  the  nerve  he  displayed,  the  breadth 
of  intellect  he  manifested,  the  ardor  of  his  patriotism,  and  the 
wonders  wrought  by  his  financial  wisdom  and  skill  throughout 
the  first  three  years  of  the  rebellion,  are  so  recent  and  so  well 
remembered,  and  live  so  freshly  in  the  hearts  of  his  grateful 
countrymen,  as  to  render  unnecessary  any  thing  more  than  this 
simple  reference.  His  enduring  fame  is  built  on  his  measures ; 
his  best  eulogy  is  written  in  his  acts.  He  vindicated  the  wisdom 
of  the  President's  choice;  he  both  justified  and  rewarded  the 
confidence  of  the  people."  It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that 
President  Lincoln,  with  strengthened  confidence  in  Mr.  Chase's 
patriotism,  ability,  and  sound  judgment,  tendered  to  him,  in 
1864,  the  highest  judicial  seat  of  the  nation,  which  had  become 
vacant  by  the  death  of  its  venerable  incumbent,  Roger  S.  Taney. 
The  nomination  of  Mr.  Chase  as  Chief  Justice,  by  the  Execu- 
tive, on  the  6th  of  December,  1864,  was  promptly  confirmed  by 
the  Senate,  and  on  the  13th  of  the  same  month  he  took  his  seat 
upon  the  bench,  "  having  previously,"  as  the  records  state,  "  on 
the  same  day  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance,  in  the  room  of  the 
judges,  and  the  oath  of  office,  in  open  court,  at  his  place  upon 
the  bench,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen, who  had  assembled  to  witness  a  ceremony  which,  in  this 
nation,  had  taken  place  but  once  in  sixty-three  years  preceding." 
Shortly  after  his  assumption  of  the  duties  of  this  high  position, 
the  Chief  Justice  made  an  extended  tour  throughout  the  recently 
conquered  rebel  States — passing  down  the  Atlantic  coast  and  up 
the  Mississippi  river — with  the  purpose  of  gaining  a  personal 
knowledge  of  the  actual  condition  of  the  people.  During  this 


MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

trip,  he  embraced  every  opportunity  of  conversing  unreservedly 
with  all,  both  white  and  black,  who  chose  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  knowledge  of  his  presence,  and  the  information  thus 
obtained  was  placed  at  the  public  service  in  his  correspondence 
with  the  President  and  others,  while  his  suggestions  of  measures 
necessary  and  expedient  to  the  proper  accomplishment  of  peace 
and  reconstruction,  order  and  justice,  were  characterized  by  a 
comprehensiveness  of  view  and  a  noble  spirit  of  Christian 
patriotism  eminently  creditable  to  his  head  and  heart. 

Few  public  men  of  his  years,  in  this  country,  possess  minds 
better  stored  with  varied  treasures  of  knowledge,  or  bear  the 
evidence  of  severer  mental  discipline  than  Mr.  Chase.  To  an 
intellect  at  once  comprehensive,  discriminating  and  retentive, 
he  adds  the  graces  of  learning  and  the  power  of  logic;  and 
whatever  subject  he  treats,  is  handled  with  keen  insight, 
breadth  of  view,  thoroughness  of  reflection,  and  strength  of 
reasoning.  His  whole  career  as  a  statesman  and  jurist,  and  all 
his  public  efforts,  in  popular  addresses,  newspaper  writings, 
occasional  lectures,  and  contributions  to  periodical  literature, 
show  the  same  breadth  of  premise,  exactness  of  statement, 
logical  sequence,  completeness  of  consideration,  and  power  of 
conclusion,  from  which  we  are  justified  in  hoping  and  expecting 
much  in  his  present  exalted  position,  where  his  ruling  and 
decisions  have  always  been  characterized  by  their  adherence  to 
the  great  fundamental  principles  of  equity  on  which  all  human 
law  is  professedly  based.  His  is  no  narrow  mind  to  run  only 
in  the  rut  of  precedents,  and  be  constantly  hampered  by  the  chi- 
canery of  rigid  constructionists.  He  goes  naturally  to  the  foun- 
dation principles,  and  while  he  has  no  superior,  either  in  legal 
learning  and  acumen  or  in  wide  and  generous  culture,  upon  the 
bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  he  is  less 


SALMON   PORTLAND   CHASE.  197 

likely  perhaps  than  any  of  them  to  base  an  opinion  on  previous 
decisions  either  there  or  in  the  English  courts. 

In  the  trial  of  Andrew  Johnson  under  the  impeachment  of 
the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  Chief  Justice  Chase  was,  by  the 
Constitution,  the  presiding  officer  of  the  High  Court  of  Impeach- 
ment. His  course  there  was  marked  by  dignity  and  ability 
The  position  was  a  difficult  and  trying  one,  and  his  powers  (it 
being  the  first  instance  of  such  presidency  since  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution)  were  not  clearly  defined  ;  but  he  acquitted 
himself  admirably  in  it. 

In  person  Mr.  Chase  presents  the  most  imposing  appearance 
of  any  man  in  public  life  in  this  country.  He  is  over  six  feet 
in  height,  portly  and  well  proportioned,  with  handsome  features, 
and  a  grand,  massive  head.  Few  men  possess  so  much  real 
dignity  and  grace  of  manner.  But  with  it  all,  he  is  utterly 
incapable  of  the  arts  of  the  demagogue,  or  of  any  effort  to  win 
popularity,  by  "bending  the  supple  hinges  of  the  knee,  that 
thrift  may  follow  fawning."  He  entered  upon  his  office  of 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  with  a  property  of  about  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars;  he  left  it  three  years  later,  after 
managing  the  immense  finances  of  the  nation  in  war  time, 
materially  poorer  than  when  he  assumed  office.  No  man  who 
knew  him  could  doubt,  for  an  instant,  his  unflinching  integrity 
and  honesty. 

Chief  Justice  Chase  has  often  been  mentioned  as  a  candidate 
for  the  presidenc}T,  and  it  has  been  said  by  political  writers 
that  he  was  anxious  for  the  position.  If  this  were  the  case,  it 
would  not  be  to  his  discredit,  so  long  as  the  means  he  used 
to  accomplish  his  desire  were  honorable  and  just,  and  it 
is  not  in  his  nature  to  use  any  other — but  there  is  not  any- 
where the  slightest  authentic  evidence  that  he  has  even  sought 
or  desired  this  great  office.  If  he  has,  no  man  could  have 


198  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

better  kept  his  secret,  for  not  to  his  most  intimate  friends  has 
he  ever  breathed  this  aspiration,  nor  has  he  swerved  a  hair's 
breadth  from  the  line  of  duty,  to  influence' any  man  to  support 
him.  Like  Henry  Clay,  he  "  would  rather  be  right,  than  be 
President."  In  a  recent  conversation  with  his  friend,  Mr.  W. 
N.  Hudson  of  the  Cleveland  Leader,  when  allusion  was  made 
to  an  absurd  report  just  then  prevalent,  that  the  Democrats 
thought  of  nominating  him  to  the  Presidency,  Mr.  Chase  said 
with  great  earnestness,  "I  wish  that  all  men  of  all  parties 
would  leave  my  name  alone  in  connection  with  a  presidential 
nomination.  I  do  not  seek  the  presidency."  He  then  went  on 
to  say,  that  as  a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  he  had  necessarily  to  abandon  party  politics.  When  he 
took  his  seat  on  that  bench,  he  assumed  an  obligation,  recog- 
nized in  his  oath,  but  anterior  and  superior  to  it,  to  do  impar- 
tial justice  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States.  He  could  not  be  a  party  judge,  or  allow  himself  to 
be  swayed  by  partisan  feeling,  without  violating  that  oath. 
And  he  regretted  that  newspapers  of  both  parties  had,  without 
cause  or  warrant,  connected  some  of  his  recent  actions  with 
party  or  perverse  feeling. 

A  man  thus  scrupulous  of  the  obligations  of  hie  oath,  and 
influenced  by  so  nice  and  delicate  a  sentiment  of  honor,  might 
safely  be  trusted  with  the  nation's  highest  place  of  honor,  but 
is  too  great  to  be  likely  to  fill  it. 


EDWIN    M.  STANTON, 

SECRETARY    OF    WAR. 


|  HE  time  has  not  come,  and  will  not,  for  years,  when  an 
impartial  and  satisfactory  life  of  Mr.  Stanton  can  be 
written.  The  hostilities  aroused  by  his  rough,  impul- 
sive, and  positive  action — the  utter  carelessness  of  the 
man  in  regard  to  his  own  reputation — the  partial  and  im- 
perfect knowledge  of  the  motives  which  led  to  many  of  his 
apparently  arbitrary  measures,  and  his  own  constant  and  per- 
sistent refusal  to  make  any  explanations,  or  give  any  informa- 
tion which  might  influence  the  world's  judgment  of  him — all 
have  conspired  to  make  any  thing  like  an  adequate  biography 
of  him  impossible,  until  time  shall  have  mitigated  the  bitter- 
ness which  many  feel  toward  him,  and  the  great  secrets,  which 
he  now  keeps  so  safely,  shall  be  brought  to  the  light.  Yet  we 
can  give  some  account  of  his  earlier  history,  and  a  brief  sum- 
mary of  the  herculean  labors  which,  for  three  years,  made  him 
the  hardest-worked  official  who  ever  occupied  a  seat  in  the 
cabinet. 

Mr.  Stanton  comes  of  a  Quaker  stock.  His  ancestors  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Rhode  Island,  and  his  great  grand- 
father migrated,  not  far  from  1750,  to  North  Carolina.  The 

grandparents  of  the  future   secretary,  Benjamin   and  Abigail 

199 


200  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

(Macy)  Stanton,  resided  for  many  years  near  Beaufort,  North 
Carolina,  and  were  members  of  the  society  of  Friends.  Benja- 
min died  in  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century  ;  and  in 
his  will  requested  that  all  the  poor  black  people  that  ever  be- 
longed to  him,  should  be  entirely  free  whenever  the  laws  of 
the  land  would  allow  it — and  until  that  time,  charged  his  ex- 
ecutors to  act  as  their  guardians,  to  protect  them,  and  see  that 
they  should  not  be  deprived  of  their  right,  or  any  way  mis- 


About  the  year  1800,  the  widow  of  Benjamin,  Abigail  Stan- 
ton,  removed  with  her  large  family  to  Ohio.  One  of  her  sons, 
David  Stanton,  then  a  stout  lad,  acquired  an  education,  studied 
medicine,  married  Miss  Lucy  Norman,  the  daughter  of  a 
wealthy  planter  of  Culpeper  county,  Virginia,  and  settled  in 
the  then  new  and  thriving  village  of  Steubenville,  Ohio,  as  a 
physician.  Here,  in  December,  1815,  his  eldest  child,  Edwin 
M.  Stanton,  was  born. 

The  boy  possessed  great  energy,  vitality,  and  resolution,  and 
was  beyond  his  years  in  intelligence.  At  the  age  of  thirteen, 
he  became  a  clerk  in  the  bookstore  of  James  Turnbull,  in 
Steubenville.  Three  years  later,  in  1831,  he  became  a  student 
in  Kenyon  College,  Gambier,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  for  two 
years  or  more.  He  then  obtained  employment,  for  a  time,  as  a 
clerk,  in  a  bookstore  of  his  former  master  at  Columbus.  His 
father  having  deceased,  he  commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the 
office  of  his  guardian,  Daniel  L.  Collier,  in  Steubenville,  early 
in  1834,  and  under  his  tuition,  and  that  of  Hon.  Benjamin  Tap- 
pan,  an  eminent  jurist,  and  subsequently  U.  S.  Senator  from 
Ohio,  he  acquired  a  very  competent  knowledge  of  the  law  ; 
and  in  1836,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
He  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  at  Cadiz,  Harrison 
county,  Ohio,  and  was  very  soon  elected  prosecuting  attorney 


EDWIN  M.  STANTOIST.  201 

of  the  county.  He  very  speedily  acquired  a  high  reputation, 
and  a  large  practice  in  his  profession,  especially  in  the  circuit 
courts.  About  1839,  he  removed  to  Steubenville,  where  he 
was  for  a  time  the  partner  of  his  old  preceptor,  Hon.  Benjamin 
Tappan.  In  1842,  he  was  elected,  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  Ohio,  reporter  of  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
in  that  capacity  prepared  volumes  11,  12,  and  13,  of  the  Ohio 
State  Keports.  He  had  by  this  time  a  very  high  position  at 
the  Ohio  bar,  being  regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  of 
the  State  in  all  questions  of  land  titles  and  commercial  law. 
He  had  also  some  reputation  as  a  political  leader  in  his  county 
and  State.  His  affiliations  were  with  the  Democratic  party, 
In  1847,  he  formed  a  partnership  with  Hon.  Charles  Shaler  and 
Theodore  Umbstratter,  of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  and,  though 
retaining  an  office  in  Steubenville,  began  to  devote  his  atten- 
tion chiefly  to  cases  before  the  courts  of  Pennsylvania  and  the 
United  States  District,  Circuit,  and  Supreme  courts.  He  was 
retained  in  most  of  the  important  cases,  and  regarded  as  the 
ablest  counsel  of  that  region.  There  was  an  immense  power 
of  work  in  the  man,  as  well  as  remarkable  quickness  of  per- 
ception— an  almost  feminine  intuition,  which  enabled  him  to 
leap  to  results,  while  others  were  carefully  and  slowly  studying 
out  the  first  steps.  While  resident  at  Pittsburg,  he  was  en- 
gaged, among  other  important  suits,  as  counsel  for  the  railroad 
company  in  the  great  Erie  war  cases,  and  for  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania in  the  Wheeling  Bridge  case.  In  the  latter  part  of 
1856,  his  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
had  become  so  large  and  lucrative,  that  he  found  himself  com- 
elled  to  remove  to  Washington  to  do  full  justice  to  it. 
In  1858,  he  went  to  California,  as  special  counsel  for  the 
Government  in  certain  land  cases,  involving  interests  of  great 
magnitude,  where  he  was  called  to  defend  the  title  of  the 


202  MEN   OF   OUK   DAY. 

American  against  the  Mexican  grantees.  His  rranagement  of 
these  cases  was  successful,  and  he  received  enormous  fees  foi 
his  services.  Soon  after  his  return,  in  1859,  he  was  employed 
as  one  of  the  counsel  in  the  great  Manney  and  McCormick 
reaper  case,  which  was  to  be  tried  at  Cincinnati ;  and  here,  for 
the  first  time,  met  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  engaged  on  the  same 
side  of  the  case.  In  December,  1860,  while  still  engaged  in  a 
later  stage  of  the  reaper  trial,  at  Cincinnati,  he  was  nominated 
by  Mr.  Buchanan  to  the  office  of  Attorney-General,  which 
Mr.  Black  had  just  vacated  to  assume  that  of  Secretary  of 
State,  after  the  resignation  of  General  Cass.  He  accepted  the 
position,  though  probably  conscious,  in  part,  of  its  difficulties. 
Cobb  and  Floyd  had  resigned,  Black  and  Thomas  were  of 
doubtful  loyalty,  and,  beside  Judge  Holt,  General  Dix,  and 
himself,  there  was  nobody  in  the  cabinet  who  cared  whether 
the  nation  were  shipwrecked  or  not.  Of  the  three  loyal  mem- 
bers of  the  cabinet,  Mr.  Stanton  was  by  far  the  most  outspoken 
and  decided.  He  protested  against  every  doubtful  measure, 
urged  on  Buchanan  the  necessity  of  reinforcing  and  supplying 
the  garrison  of  Fort  Sumter,  and  by  his  untiring  zeal,  his  ad- 
ministrative ability,  and  his  sturdy  loyalty,  prevented  the 
closing  months  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  administration  from  going 
out  in  utter  darkness. 

At  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  term  of  administration, 
Mr.  Stanton  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession,  but  con- 
tinued his  zeal  and  interest  in  the  national  cause. 

On  the  llth  of  January,  1862,  Secretary  Cameron  having 
resigned  his  office  of  Secretary  of  "War,  Mr.  Stanton  was  nomi- 
nated by  the  President,  and  on  the  13th  of  the  game  month 
was  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  for  that  office.  Of  this  appoint- 
ment Judge  Holt,  Postmaster  General  at  the  close  of  Mr. 
Buchanan's  administration,  and  subsequently  Judge  Advcoato 


EDWIN   M.   STANTON.  203 

General,  wrote  to  Lieutenant  Governor  Stanton  of  Ohio,  "  it  is 
an  immense  stride  in  the  direction  of  the  suppression  of  the 
rebellion.  .  . .  The  rejoicing  of  the  people  over  his  appointment 
would  have  been  far  greater  did  they  know  the  courage, 
loyalty,  and  genius  of  the  new  secretary,  as  displayed  in  the 
intensely  tragic  struggles  that  marked  the  closing  days  of  the 
Buchanan  administration.  He  is  a  great  man,  morally  and  in- 
tellectually— a  patriot.  . .  .  All  that  man  can  do,  will,  in  his 
present  position,  be  done  to  deliver  our  poor  bleeding  country 
from  the  bayonets  of  traitors."  The  history  of  Mr.  Stanton's 
administration  of  the  War  Department  has  more  than  verified 
Judge  Holt's  high  encomiums. 

He  entered  upon  his  duties  with  a  vigor  and  energy  which 
has  never  flagged.  The  loose  expenditures  of  the  Department 
and  the  taint  of  corruption  which  had  pervaded  its  financial 
management,  rather  from  the  easy  temper  of  Mr.  Stanton's  pre- 
decessor than  from  any  personally  dishonest  tendencies,  were 
reformed.  Strictly  honest  in  money  matters  himself,  Secretary 
Stanton  pursued  most  unrelentingly  every  man  whom  he  had 
reason  to  suspect  of  fraud.  The  military  organization  and  the 
bureaus  of  the  Department,  so  far  as  they  came  under  his  control, 
were  systematized,  simplified,  and  placed  on  a  footing  of  greater 
efficiency ;  the  communication  with  the  President  was  constant ; 
and  impetuous  as  the  Secretary  was,  and  apt  at  times  to  act 
when  he  was  sure  he  was  right,  on  his  own  authority  alone, 
his  arm  was  ever  le&dy  to  support  the  President,  and  his  unflinch- 
ing loyalty  was  proof  against  every  test.  Untiring  in  his  energy 
and  more  fond  of  work  than  most  men  are  of  pleasure,  he 
exacted  of  his  subordinates  labors  as  far  as  possible  commen- 
surate with  his  own ;  he  never  asked  them  to  do  more — but  in 
these  severe  labors  he  broke  down  one  assistant  secretary  after 
another,  till  there  was  a  saying  common  in  Washington,  when 


204  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

a  new  assistant  secretary  was  appointed,  that  such  a  man  "  had 
received  his  death  warrant."  No  man  was  more  ready  or 
happy  to  acknowledge  victories,  or  thank  the  successful  leader 
than  he;  and  if  at  times  he  became  impatient  at  the  slow 
motion  of  dilatory  generals,  and  was  in  a  few  instances  unjust 
in  his  condemnation  of  their  delays,  it  was  due  to  his  eager 
loyalty  and  his  impetuous  nature,  which  brooked  no  obstacles 
and  tolerated  no  unnecessary  hindrances  in  the  accomplishment 
of  the  object  he  had  so  much  at  heart.  Over  one  thousand 
general  orders,  many  of  them  requiring  immense  labor  and 
painstaking  in  their  preparation,  were  issued  from  his  Depart- 
ment during  the  war,  and  the  vast  and  constantly  increasing 
expenditure  of  the  Department,  which  in  the  last  year  of  the  war, 
was  keeping  a  force  of  more  than  a  million  of  men  in  the  field, 
was  of  itself  sufficient  to  test  the  energies  of  the  ablest  financier. 

He  had  the  reputation  of  being  very  brusque  in  his  manners ; 
and  at  times  his  treatment  of  army  officers  of  high  rank  was 
indefensible ;  but  to  the  poor,  to  the  defenceless,  and  the  weak, 
he  was  gentle  and  tender  as  a  woman ;  towards  offenders,  either 
military  or  civil,  he  was  relentless  as  death,  and  often  appa- 
rently vindictive  in  his  punishments,  but  this  vindictiveness  was 
rarely  manifested,  except  to  those  whom  he  believed  to  have 
been  guilty  of  defrauding  the  nation  in  its  hour  of  greatest  need. 
This  to  him  was  an  unpardonable  sin. 

It  was  with  reference  to  some  strong-willed  action  of  Mr. 
Stanton  in  contravention  of  his  wishes,  that  Mr.  Lincoln, 
in  reply  to  a  personal  application  for  assistance,  made  the 
playful  remark,  so  often  quoted,  that  he  (Lincoln)  had  very  little 
influence  with  this  Administration. 

Yet  admitting  all  his  faults  and  foibles,  the  fact  remains 
that  Mr.  Stanton  was  one  of  the  ablest  if  not  the  ablest  war 
minister  of  modern  times.  Napo] eon's  expression  in  regard  to 


EDWIN   M.    STANTON".  205 

Carnot,  that  lie  "  organized  victory,"  has  been  often  applied  to 
Mr.  Stanton,  and  not  unjustly;  but  he  was  an  abler  war  minis- 
ter than  Carnot,  far  abler  than  the  younger  Pitt,  to  whom  he 
has  often  also  been  compared.  We  should  incline  rather  to 
find  his  parallel  in  Cavour,  the  great  Italian,  whose  genius, 
under  circumstances  very  similar,  created  armies  and  sent  a 
thrill  of  patriotic  life  through  the  hearts  of  a  people  so  long 
oppressed  and  down-trodden,  as  the  masses  of  the  Italian 
peninsula.  There  were,  too,  many  points  of  resemblance  in 
the  power  of  organization,  the  imperious  will,  and  the  forcible 
moulding  of  the  nation  to  his  purposes,  to  the  great  Prussian 
statesman,  Von  Bismarck. 

After  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr.  Stanton  naturally 
took  the  lead  among  the  members  of  the  cabinet  in  bringing 
the  assassins  to  justice,  and  the  war  to  a  complete  conclusion. 
Mr.  Johnson  could  not  well  dismiss  him  from  the  cabinet,  but 
as  the  new  President  began  to  diverge  more  and  more  from  the 
principles  of  the  party  which  elected  him  to  the  vice-presidency 
it  soon  became  evident  that  between  him  and  the  war  minister 
there  was  no  friendship,  but  only  an  armed  neutrality.  Both 
had  formerly  been  members  of  the  Democratic  party,  but  while 
Johnson  was  evidently  hungering  for  the  flesh  pots  of  Egypt, 
and  desirous  of  returning  to  his  old  allegiance,  Stanton  had  seen 
too  clearly  the  opposition  of  his  old  party  to  the  war,  and  the 
principles  for  which  he  had  so  manfully  contended,  to  desire  to 
hold  farther  communion  with  them.  He  supported  with  all  the 
force  of  his  character  the  following  measures,  all  of  which  the 
President  opposed  and  vetoed :  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill ; 
the  Civil  Eights  bill ;  the  bill  granting  suffrage  without  distinc- 
tion of  color  in  the  District  of  Columbia ;  the  bill  admitting 
Colorado  as  a  State ;  and,  generally,  the  reconstruction  acts  of 
Congress.  It  was  evident  that  it  was  only  a  question  of  time, 


206  MEN  OF   OUR   DAY. 

as  to  when  M?.  Johnson  could  most  conveniently  rid  himself 
of  this  secretary,  whom  he  feared  as  much  as  he  hated,  and 
hated  as  much  as  he  feared.  He  tried  slights,  but  they  were 
lost  upon  the  secretary ;  when  he  "  swung  round  the  circle"  he 
purposely  avoided  inviting  Mr.  Stanton  to  accompany  him ;  but 
this  was  a  relief  to  the  secretary ;  he  held  as  little  and  as  formal 
communication  with  him  as  possible,  and  to  this  Mr.  Stanton 
made  no  objection.  Meantime,  Congress,  aware  of  the  import- 
ance of  retaining  him  in  office,  to  foil  and  thwart  Mr.  Johnson's 
schemes  for  defeating  their  reconstruction  measures,  passed  the 
Tenure  of  Office  bill,  in  which  especial  provision  was  made  for 
his  retention  in  the  War  Department. 

At  length,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1867,  Mr.  Johnson  mustered 
sufficient  courage  to  send  a  note  to  Mr.  Stanton  requesting  him 
to  resign  upon  the  alleged  ground  of  public  considerations  of  a 
high  character,  to  which  the  secretary  replied  that  "  public  con- 
siderations of  a  high  character,  which  alone  had  induced  him 
to  remain  at  the  head  of  this  Department,  constrained  him  not 
to  resign  before  the  next  meeting  of  Congress."  On  the  13th 
of  August,  Mr.  Johnson  notified  Mr.  Stanton  that  he  had  sus- 
pended him  from  office,  and  appointed  General  Grant  Secretary 
ad  interim.  Mr.  Stanton  surrendered  the  office  to  General  Grant 
under  protest,  though,  as  was  fully  understood,  with  no  personal 
feeling  toward  the  general  in  the  matter.  On  the  assembling 
of  Congress  in  November,  1867,  they  promptly  demanded,  of 
the  President,  an  account  of  the  measures  he  had  taken  in  sus- 
pending Secretary  Stanton  from  office.  The  reply  came  tardily, 
and  offered  but  little  real  justification  of  his  proceeding.  The 
Senate,  after  fair  deliberation,  decided  that  the  suspension  was 
not  justifiable,  and  that  the  secretary  must  be  reinstated.  General 
Grant  promptly  surrendered  the  office  to  him  on  the  13th  of 
January,  1868,  greatly  to  Mr.  Johnson's  vexation  and  chagrin 


EDWIN   M.   STANTON.  207 

and  an  angry  correspondence  between  him  and  the  general  was 
the  result.  Secretary  Stanton  took  charge  of  the  Department, 
but  the  President  would  hold  no  communication  with  him,  and 
endeavored  to  prevent  General  Grant  from  issuing  his  orders 
through  him,  but  in  vain.  At  length,  on  the  21st  of  February, 
President  Johnson  notified  Mr.  Stanton  that  he  had  removed 
him  from  office,  and  appointed  General  Lorenzo  Thomas 
(adjutant-general  of  the  army)  Secretary  ad  interim,  with  orders 
to  take  possession  of  the  office.  Mr.  Stanton  refused  to  surren- 
der it,  and  General  Thomas  was  arrested  on  the  charge  of 
violating  the  Tenure  of  Office  act,  but  was  discharged  on  his 
own  recognizance.  The  violation  of  this  act  by  Mr.  Johnson 
filled  up  the  cup  of  his  offences  against  Congress,  and  he  was 
promptly  impeached  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  tried  by 
the  Senate,  and  while  the  impeachment  articles  were  pending, 
he  nominated  Thomas  Ewing,  Sr.,  a  venerable  politician  of  Ohio, 
in  his  eightieth  year,  as  Secretary  of  War,  in  place  of  Stanton, 
removed,  but  the  Senate  took  no  notice  of  the  nomination. 
Secretary  Stanton  remained  in  office  during  the  impeachment 
trial,  but  it  was  understood  that  he  would  decline  continuing  in 
that  position  after  Mr.  Johnson's  conviction. 


JILLIAM  HENEY  SEWARD,  the  son  of  Dr.  Samuel 
S.  Seward,  for  seventeen  years  a  county  judge,  and  a 
man  of  more  than  ordinary  business  ability  and  practical 
philanthropy,  was  born  at  Florida,  Orange  county,  New 
York,  *on  the  16th  of  May,  1801.  Manifesting  from  childhood 
an  earnest  love  of  knowledge  and  taste  for  study,  he  was  sent, 
when  nine  years  old,  to  Farmers'  Hall  Academy,  at  Goshen,  in 
his  native  county.  Eapidly  advancing  in  his  studies  there,  and 
at  an  academy  afterwards  established  in  his  native  town,  he  was 
fully  prepared,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  to  enter  college.  Matricu- 
lating, as  a  sophomore,  at  Union  College,  in  1816,  he  manifested 
a  peculiar  aptitude  for  rhetoric,  moral  philosophy  and  the 
classics.  In  1819,  in  his  senior  year,  he  spent  some  six  months 
in  teaching  at  the  South,  and,  returning  to  college,  graduated 
with  high  honors ;  being  one  of  the  three  commencement  ora- 
tors chosen  by  the  college  society,  to  which  he  belonged.  The 
subject  he  selected  was,  "  The  Integrity  of  the  American  Union." 
Entering,  soon  after  his  graduation,  the  office  of  John  Anthon, 
of  New  York  city,  he  commenced  the  study  of  law,  continuing 
and  completing  his  preparation  with  John  Duer  and  Ogden 
Hoffman,  of  Goshen,  New  York,  with  the  latter  of  whom  he 
became  associated  in  practice.  In  January,  1822,  he  was  admit- 
ted to  the  bar,  and  removing  to  Auburn,  New  Ycirk,  formed  a 
208 


WILLIAM   HENRY   SEWARD.  209 

partnership  with  Judge  John  Miller,  of  that  place,  whose  young- 
est daughter  became  his  wife  in  1824.  As  a  lawyer,  his  origi- 
nality of  thought  and  action,  as  well  as  his  great  industry,  soon 
"brought  him  an  extensive  and  lucrative  practice.  Politics  also 
claimed  much  of  his  attention,  and,  as  was  natural,  he  followed 
in  the  political  footsteps  of  his  father,  who  was  a  prominent 
Jeffersonian  Eepublican.  In  October,  1824,  despite  his  youth, 
he  was  chosen  to  draw  up  the  Address  to  the  People  of  the  Ee- 
publican Convention  of  Cayuga  county,  which  document  was  an 
exposiire  of  the  origin  and  designs  of  the  Albany  Regency.  In 
1827,  he  contributed  largely,  by  his  eloquent  speeches,  to  the 
success  of  the  popular  movement  in  behalf  of  the  Greeks,  then 
struggling  for  their  freedom.  In  1828,  he  presided  with  distin- 
guished ability  over  a  very  large  convention  of  young  men 
favorable  to  the  election  of  John  Quincy  Adams  to  the  presi- 
dency, held  at  Utica,  New  York,  and  the  same  year  declined  a 
proffered  nomination  to  Congress.  When  the  National  Repub- 
lican party  was  dissolved  by  Jackson's  election  as  President,  Mr. 
Seward  fraternized  with  the  Anti- Masonic  organization,  the  only 
opposition  then  existing  to  the  Albany  Regency,  and  from  that 
party  accepted,  in  1830,  a  nomination  to  the  State  Senate.  He 
was  elected  by  a  majority  of  two  thousand,  in  a  district  (the 
seventh)  which  had  given  a  large  majority  the  other  way  in  the 
previous  year.  Scarcely  thirty  years  old,  he  entered  the  Senate 
as  the  youngest  member  who  had  ever  attained  that  honor,  and 
found  himself,  politically,  in  a  small  minority,  at  a  time  when 
party  lines  were  sharply  defined.  Yet  he  fearlessly  entered  the 
lists,  throwing  down  the  gauntlet  to  the  Jackson  power  and  the 
Albany  Regency,  taking  part  in  all  debates  advocating  the 
claims  of  abolition  of  imprisonment  for  debt,  the  amelioration  of 
prison  discipline,  opposition  to  corporate  monopolies,  the  exten- 
sion of  the  popular  franchise,  the  common-school  system,  the 
14 


210  MEN   OF   DUE   DAY. 

Erie  railroad  and  internal  improvements,  etc.  His  maiden 
speech  was  on  a  militia  bill,  in  which  he  proposed,  substantially, 
the  same  system  of  volunteer  uniform  companies  as  that  at 
present  in  use  in  New  York  State ;  and  during  the  second  session 
of  his  term  he  delivered  a  speech  in  advocacy  of  a  national 
bank,  which,  with  others  of  similar  import,  gave  rise  (by  con- 
centrating an  opposition  in  the  Senate)  to  what  subsequently 
developed  as  the  Whig  party.  In  the  summer  of  1833,  during 
the  recess  of  the  Senate,  Mr.  Seward  made  a  hurried  visit  to 
Europe,  adding  largely  to  his  reputation  by  the  letters  which  he 
wrote  home,  and  which  were  published  in  the  Albany  "Evening 
Journal."  In  September,  1834,  he  was  nominated  for  governor 
by  the  Whig  State  Convention,  against  William  L.  Marcy,  but 
was  defeated,  although  running  ahead  of  his  ticket  in  every 
county.  Eesuming  his  practice,  Mr.  Seward,  in  1836,  settled  in 
Chautauqua  county,  as  the  agent  for  the  Holland  Land  Com- 
pany ;  and,  in  1838,  was  again  nominated  by  the  Whigs,  and 
elected  governor  by  ten  thousand  majority.  In  1840,  he  was 
re-elected.  During  his  administration  occurred  the  celebrated 
anti-rent  difficulties;  the  Erie  canal  was  enlarged;  the  State 
lunatic  asylum  was  founded  ;  imprisonment  for  debt,  and  every 
vestige  of  slavery  were  eradicated  from  the  statute-books ;  im- 
portant reforms  were  effected  in  elections,  in  prison  discipline, 
in  bank  laws,  and  in  legal  courts.  One  of  the  most  important 
events  of  his  administration  was  the  controversy  with  the  Gov- 
ernors of  Virginia  and  Georgia,  in  which  the  latter  claimed  fr*om 
him  the  rendition  of  certain  colored  sailors,  charged  with  having 
abducted  slaves  from  said  States.  Governor  Seward  refused 
compliance,  and  argued  the  case  with  a  firmness  and  ability 
which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  whole  country ;  and  when 
his  course  was  denounced  by  the  Democrats,  after  their  accession 
to  power,  and  he  was  requested  to  transmit  their  resolutions  to 


WILLIAM   HENRY   SEWAED.  211 

the  Governor  of  Virginia,  he  declined  to  do  so — remaining 
inflexible,  despite  the  retaliatory  measures  threatened  by  the 
State  of  Virginia  against  the  commerce  of  New  York.  A 
similar  instance  of  firmness  and  sagacity  was  manifested  by  him, 
in  his  refusal  to  surrender,  to  the  British  Government,  Alexander 
McLeod,  charged  with  burning  the  steamer  Caroline,  during 
the  Canadian  rebellion  of  1837,  a  refusal  in  which  he  persisted, 
in  spite  of  the  British  minister's  threats  of  hostilities,  the  advice 
of  President  Tyler's  administration,  and  the  strong  intercession 
of  many  of  his  own  political  friends.  In  January,  1843,  Mr. 
Seward,  declining  another  nomination,  resumed  the  practice  of 
law,  devoting  himself,  for  the  ensuing  six  years,  assiduously  to 
business,  attaining  a  large  practice  in  the  highest  State  courts, 
and — owing  to  a  particular  aptitude  for  mechanical  science — 
having  a  considerable  number  of  patent-cases,  which  brought 
him  into  association  with  the  best  legal  talent  of  the  country. 
He  also  gave  freely,  not  only  his  professional  services  but  his 
means,  in  behalf  of  certain  friendless  unfortunates,  whose  cases 
and  trials  form  some  of  the  most  interesting  records  of  criminal 
jurisprudence.  Conspicuous  among  these  was  the  case  of  the 
insane  negro  Freeman,  the  murderer  of  the  Van  Nest  family,  in 
Orange  county,  New  York,  a  case  which,  in  spite  of  derision, 
obloquy  and  reproach,  Mr.  Seward  never  forsook,  until  the 
death  of  his*  client,  "  caused  by  the  disease  of  the  brain,  satisfied 
even  the  most  prejudiced,  that  his  course  had  been  as  wise 
as  it  confessedly  was  humane  and  generous."  He  also  gratui- 
tously defended,  before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  in 
1847,  the  case  of  John  Van  Zandt,  charged  with  aiding  fugitive 
slaves  to  escape  from  Kentucky;  his  argument  in  the  case 
being  pronounced  "a  masterly  exposition  of  the  inhumanity 
and  unconstitutionally  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  act." 
In  1851,  he  defended,  at  Detroit,  fifty  men  on  trial  for  con- 


212  MEN   OF   OUR   DAT. 

spiracy,  who  could  find  but  one  lawyer  in  Michigan  courageous 
enough  to  undertake  their  case.  It  was  a  four  month's  trial, 
involving  the  examination  of  four  hundred  witnesses,  and  he 
secured  the  acquittal  of  thirty-eight  of  the  number.  Besides 
all  this  professional  labor,  Mr.  Seward  did  good  service  in 
various  political  campaigns ;  especially  in  1844,  in  favor  of  a 
tariff;  against  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  the  Mexican  War; 
against  disenfranchisement  of  foreign-born  citizens,  etc.  In 
1846,  he  was  largely  instrumental  in  securing  the  calling  of  the 
convention  for  the  revision  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  In  September,  1847,  he  delivered,  at  New 
York,  an  address  on  the  life  and  character  of  Daniel  O'Connell, 
which  was  one  of  his  finest  efforts ;  and  in  April,  1848,  he 
pronounced,  before  the  Legislature  of  New  York,  a  touching 
and  felicitous  eulogy  on  John  Quincy  Adams.  When  General 
Taylor  was  nominated  for  the  presidency,  in  1848,  Mr.  Seward 
became  one  of  the  prominent  public  speakers,  canvassing  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  Massachusetts,  making,  as  here- 
tofore, the  great  principles  of  human  freedom  the  central  topics 
of  his  speeches,  and  was  everywhere  greeted  with  the  hearty  and 
unanimous  applause  of  his  audience.  Shortly  after  Taylor's 
election,  Mr.  Seward  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the 
Thirty-first  Congress,  and  soon  became  recognized  as  the 
foremost  advocate  of  the  administration  policy — enjoying  the 
intimacy  and  confidence  of  the  President  until  his  untimely 
decease.  During  the  first  session  of  this  Congress,  Mr.  Seward 
took  a  prominent  and  very  influential  part  in  the  contest  which 
resulted  in  the  passage  of  the  Compromise  act,  and  it  was  in 
the  discussion  of  these  measures  that  he  used  the  phrase  "  the 
Higher  Law,"  which  has  achieved  so  great  and  wide-spread  a 
significance.  Three  years  before,  he  had  said,  in  the  Van  Zandt 
case,  "  Congress  had  no  power  to  inhibit  any  duty  commanded 


WILLIAM   HENEY   SEWABD.  213 

by  God  on  Mount  Sinai,  or  by  his  Son  on  the  Mount  of  Olives," 
and  now  (March  llth,  1860),  speaking  of  the  admission  of 
California,  he  said,  "We  hold  no  arbitrary  authority  over 
any  thing,  whether  acquired  lawfully,  or  seized  by  usurpation. 
The  Constitution  regulates  our  stewardship;  the  Constitution 
devotes  the  domain  to  union,  to  justice,  to  defence,  to  welfare, 
and  to  liberty.  But  there  is  a  Higher  Law  than  the  Constitu- 
tion, which  regulates  our  authority  over  the  domain,  arid 
devotes  it  to  the  same  noble  purpose."  In  short,  Senator 
Seward  waged  an  "  irrepressible  conflict"  against  any  compromise 
of  the  slavery  question,  a  course  of  conduct  which  brought  him 
not  only  into  collision  with  the  Democratic  party,  but  also 
with  Clay,  Webster,  Fillmore,  and  other  prominent  men  of  his 
own  party.  From  this  time  party  lines  became  more  sharply 
drawn  between  the  Pro-Slavery  men  and  Abolitionists;  and  to  the 
Southerner,  "Bill  Seward,"  as  he  was  called,  became  an  object 
of  abuse,  misrepresentation,  and  open  contempt,  in  many  cases, 
when  they  passed  him  on  the  street.  But  this  effort  to  ostracise 
him  was  utterly  futile.  His  rare  abilities  and  elevated  charac- 
ter made  him  proof  against  the  scorn  and  derision  of  little 
minds;  he  held  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  and  on  all  great 
national  questions  he  took  a  part  in  the  debate,  and  even  his 
enemies  could  not  but  listen  in  admiration  of  his  statesmanlike 
views.  The  subjects  of  Public  Lands ;  indemnities  of  French 
Spoliations;  Kossuth;  the  survey  of  the  Arctic  and  Pacific 
Oceans;  American  Whale  Fisheries;  and  American  Steam 
Navigation ;  were  handled  by  him,  in  public  debate,  with  a 
grasp  of  intellect  and  a  force  of  eloquence  worthy  of  his  high 
reputation.  During  the  Thirty-second  Congress,  Mr.  Seward  ad- 
vocated the  Continental  railroad,  and  opposed  the  removal  of 
duties  from  railroad  iron ;  and,  in  the  summer  of  1853,  after  the 
adjournment,  'bund  time,  besides  engaging  in  several  important 


214  MEN   OP   OUR   DAY. 

legal  cases,  to  deliver  an  oration  at  the  dedication  of  a  univer 
sity,  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  on  "  The  Destiny  of  America,"  and 
another  before  the  American  Institute,  at  New  York,  on  "  The 
True  Basis  of  American  Independence,"  both  of  which  possess 
a  value  beyond  the  occasions  which  elicited  them. 

In  the  Thirty-third  Congress,  he  introduced  a  bill  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  Pacific  railroad,  another  for  establishing  steam 
mails  between  California,  China,  Japan,  and  the  Sandwich 
Islands;  besides  measures  for  the  modification  of  the  Tariff, 
the  Homestead  Bill,  Miss  Dix's  effort  for  the  Eelief  of  the 
Insane,  etc.,  etc. — all  of  which  matters,  however,  gave  place  to 
the  all-absorbing  discussion  of  Senator  Douglas's  Nebraska  bill, 
which,  it  is  needless  to  say,  met  with  all  the  persistent  and 
powerful  opposition  which  Mr.  Seward  could  bring  against  it. 
The  measure,  however,  was  finally  passed.  In  addition  to  the 
elaborate  speeches  made  on  this  topic,  Mr.  Seward  pronounced 
chaste  and  discriminating  eulogies  on  Henry  Clay  and  Daniel 
Webster,  and  during  the  summer  of  this  year  (1854)  delivered 
the  annual  oration  before  the  literary  societies  of  Yale  College 
on  "  The  Physical,  Moral,  and  Intellectual  development  of  the 
American  People ;"  and  at  the  commencement  exercises,  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  In  October  following, 
he  made  his  celebrated  and  elaborate  argument  in  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  in  the  "McCormick  Reaper  case." 
During  the  second  session  of  the  Thirty-third  Congress,  Mr. 
Seward,  in  addition  to  his  continued  advocacy  of  all  the  leading 
measures  of  public  improvement,  strenuously  opposed  Senator 
Toucey's  bill  protecting  government  officers  in  the  execution  of 
the  Fugitive  Slave  act,  and  gave  his  affirmative  vote  to  a  sub- 
stitute proposed  during  the  debate,  repealing  the  Fugitive 
Slave  act  of  1850. 

In  February,  1855,  Mr.  Seward  was  re-elected  to  the  Senate, 


WILLIAM  HENRY   SEWARD.  215 

for  the  term  of  six  years,  notwithstanding  a  most  determined 
opposition  from  the  "  Know  Nothing"  or  American  party,  and 
the  Democratic  party.  His  election,  which  was  everywhere 
considered  as  a  triumph  of  the  advocates  of  freedom,  assumed 
a  national  interest ;  and  Mr.  Seward  was  tendered  public  recep- 
tions at  various  places  along  his  homeward  route,  after  the  ex- 
tra session  of  Congress,  all  of  which,  however,  he  respectfully 
declined.  During  the  State  canvass  in  the  fall  of  1855,  he 
delivered  at  Albany,  Auburn,  and  Buffalo,  speeches  in  which 
the  political  issues  of  the  times  were  sketched  with  a  master's 
hand — and,  having  enjoyed  an  immense  circulation  in  newspaper 
and  pamphlet  form,  were  still  further  honored  by  being  the 
subject  of  allusion  in  President  Pierce's  annual  message.  On 
the  22d  of  December,  1855,  Mr.  Seward  delivered,  at  Plymouth, 
Massachusetts,  an  address  commemorative  of  the  landing  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  well  worthy  of  the  occasion,  and  his  own  high 
reputation  as  a  statesman  and  scholar.  During  the  protracted 
debates  on  the  Kansas  difficulties,  in  the  thirty-fourth  session 
of  Congress,  Mr.  Seward  bore  a  conspicuous  part ;  his  speeches 
being  elaborate  and  exhaustive,  and  his  labors  indefatigable. 
The  affairs  of  Kansas  were  also  discussed  by  him,  in  two  able 
speeches  on  the  "  Army  bill,"  at  the  extra  session  in  August. 
After  the  adjournment,  he  almost  immediately  plunged  into  the 
canvass  of  the  coming  Presidential  election,  in  support  of 
Fremont — two  of  his  speeches,  those  delivered  at  Auburn  and 
Detroit,  displaying  more  than  ordinary  ability.  Upon  the  re-as- 
sembling of  Congress  in  December,  he  pronounced  an  eloquent 
and  touching  eulogium  upon  his  old  friend,  Hon.  John  M.  Clay- 
ton, and  during  the  session  he  advocated  the  claims  of  Eevolu- 
tionary  officers ;  the  prospect  of  government  aid  to  the  pro- 
posed Atlantic  telegraph ;  a  bill  for  a  telegraph  line  to  Califor- 
nia and  the  Pacific  coast ;  the  overland  mail  route,  and  also  the 


216  MEN   OF   OUK   DAY. 

railroad  to  the  Pacific ;  a  revision  of  the  tariff,  by  which  the 
popular  interests  should  be  protected,  etc.  He  also  reviewed 
the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  proposed  such  a  re-organization  of 
the  United  States  courts,  as  should  give  all  sections  of  the 
Union  a  more  equable  representation,  and  meet,  more  fully,  the 
wants  of  the  growing  West.  During  the  Thirty-fifth  Congress, 
Mr.  Seward  spoke  on  a  larger  variety  of  subjects  than  usual ; 
opposing  manfully  the  admission  of  Kansas  into  the  Union 
under  the  "  Lecompton  Constitution,"  and  from  first  to  last, 
advocating  the  principle  that  the  people  of  Kansas  should  be 
left  perfectly  free  to  decide  upon  their  own  organic  law ; 
advocating  the  increase  of  the  army  in  Utah  for  the  suppression 
of  rebellion  there ;  insisting  upon  reparation  being  demanded 
from  the  British  Government  for  aggressions  committed  by  their 
cruisers  upon  American  vessels  in  the  Mexican  Gulf;  favoring 
the  admission  of  Minnesota  and  Oregon  into  the  Union,  as 
States ;  and  various  interesting  speeches,  more  or  less  elaborate, 
upon  the  Pacific  Eailroad,  Treasury  Notes,  the  Walker 
u  filibustering"  expedition,  rivers  and  harbors,  and  eulogiums 
upon  Senators  Eusk  of  Texas,  Bell  of  New  Hampshire,  and  J. 
Pinckney  Henderson  of  Texas,  of  which  the  first  named  has 
been  considered  as  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  mortuary  elo- 
quence ever  delivered  before  that  body.  After  the  adjournment 
of  Congress,  Mr.  Seward  made  an  argument  on  the  "  Albany 
Bridge  case,"  which  added  largely  to  his  reputation,  by  the 
remarkable  knowledge  which  it  displayed  of  the  subject  of 
navigation  and  the  constitutional  questions  involved.  In  the 
autumn  campaigns  of  1858,  he  displayed  his  usual  ardor  and 
ability  in  the  canvass  for  State  officers  and  members  of  Congress, 
his  speeches  causing  profound  sensations,  especially  that  at 
Eochester,  New  York,  in  which,  speaking  of  the  collision 
between  the  free  and  slave  systems  of  labor,  he  said,  ''  Shall  I 


WILLIAM   HENRY   SEWARD.  217 

tell  you  what  this  collision  means  ?  They  who  think  that  it  is 
accidental,  unnecessary,  the  work  of  interested  or  fanatical 
agitators,  and  therefore  ephemeral,  mistake  the  case  altogether. 
It  is  an  irrepressible  conflict  between  opposing  and  enduring 
forces,  and  it  means  that  the  United  States  must  and  will, 
sooner  or  later,  become  either  entirely  a  slaveholding  nation, 
or  entirely  a  free-labor  nation."  These  significant  words  were 
severely  denounced  by  the  Democrats  as  revolutionary  and 
dangerous,  but  they  became  the  rallying  cry  of  the  hosts  of 
Freedom,  and  they  have  been  more  than  vindicated  by  subse- 
quent events  of  our  national  history.  Mr.  Seward's  services 
during  the  last  session  of  the  Thirty-fifth  Congress,  were  ren- 
dered in  behalf  of  those  important  and  beneficent  measures  of 
which  he  was  always  a  consistent  and  persistent  friend,  viz.,  the 
Homestead  bill,  the  Pacific  railroad,  etc.  In  1859,  he  made 
a  second  trip  to  Europe,  to  restore  his  health,  impaired  by 
incessant  labor,  and  returning,  devoted  himself  vigorously,  in 
1860,  to  the  canvass  of  the  Western  States,  in  behalf  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln.  He  had,  indeed,  himself  been  the  prominent 
candidate  for  the  presidency,  in  the  National  Eepublican  Con- 
vention of  that  year,  his  nomination  being  regarded  as  certain 
by  his  friends.  On  the  second  ballot  he  received  one  hundred 
and  eighty-four  and  one  half  votes,  but  on  the  third  was  de- 
feated by  Mr.  Lincoln.  During  the  same  year  he  entertained  at 
his  table  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  his  suite,  who  were  then 
making  a  tour  of  the  United  States — on  which  occasion  he 
casually  intimated  to  his  guests,  in  a  jocular  but  significant 
remark — which  was  afterwards  remembered  when  he  was 
Secretary  of  State,  during  the  civil  war,  that  it  would  be  a 
dangerous  matter  for  England  to  meddle  with  the  United  States 
in  any  other  way,  than  that  of  friendly  rivalry.  Mr.  Seward 
had  already  foretold  the  "  irrepressible  conflict,"  and  when  it 


218  MEN   OF   OTJK   DAY. 

loomed  up  in  still  more  threatening  guise,  and  before  the  ex- 
piration  of  his  second  senatorial  term  in  March,  1861,  he  boldly 
asserted  his  position  thus— "I  avow  my  adherence  to  the 
Union  with  my  friends,  with  my  party,  with  my  State,  or  with- 
out either,  as  they  may  determine ;  in  every  event  of  peace  or 
of  war  with  every  consequence  of  honor  or  dishonor,  of  life 
or  death." 

Immediately  upon  Mr.  Lincoln's  election  to  the  presidency,  he 
tendered  to  Mr.  Seward  the  chief  cabinet  office,  that  of  Secretary 
of  State.  It  was  accepted  by  the  latter,  and  the  difficult  and 
perplexing  duties  which  he  thus  assumed,  were  discharged  with 
signal  ability  and  success.  His  judicious  administration  of  the 
office  during  the  early  part  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  first  term,  tended 
more  than  any  other  cause,  to  ward  off  intervention  on  the  part 
of  foreign  powers,  in  the  momentous  struggle  then  going  on 
between  the  Government  and  the  rebellious  States — and  he 
challenged  the  respect  and  admiration  of  those  powers  them- 
selves, as  well  as  of  his  own  fellow-countrymen,  by  the  fairness, 
ability,  fulness,  and  broad  statesmanship,  with  which  he  dis- 
cussed and  settled  the  many  perplexing  and  unprecedented 
questions  which  came  under  the  notice  of  the  State  Department. 
Conspicuous  among  these,  was  the  case  of  the  demand  by  Great 
Britain  for  the  surrender  of  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell,  rebel 
envoys  who  were  forcibly  taken  by  Captain  Wilkes  of  the 
United  States  navy,  from  a  British  ship  on  which  they  were 
passengers,  in  the  fall  of  1861.  Perhaps,  at  no  time  since  the 
"War  of  1812,"  has  danger  of  war  between  England  and 
America  been  so  imminent,  as  then.  It  was  averted,  however,  by 
the  judicious  diplomacy  of  the  secretary,  who,  while  avoiding  a 
war  by  surrendering  the  rebel  commissioners  to  Great  Britain, 
on  the  ground,  that,  although  they  and  their  dispatches  were  in 
reality  contraband  of  war,  yet  their  captor  had  committed  an 


WILLIAM    HENRY   SEWARD.  219 

irregularity  in  not  bringing  the  ship,  and  all  on  board,  into  port 
for  adjudication — at  the  same  time  made  the  surrender  a  means 
of  enforcing  from  that  country,  the  never-before  conceded  right 
of  the  freedom  of  neutral  flags  on  the  high  seas. 

It  is  well  known  that,  during  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration, 
Mr.  Seward  was,  in  most  matters,  the  ruling  spirit,  and  in 
general  it  must  be  admitted  that  he  used  his  power  well.  There 
was  dissatisfaction,  not  wholly  causeless,  at  the  freedom  with 
which  he  used  the  power  of  arbitrary  arrest ;  some  complaint 
of  the  capricious,  and  at  times  not  wholly  respectful,  manner  in 
which  he  treated  the  representatives  of  the  weaker  foreign 
powers ;  some  displeasure  at  his  apparently  open  defiance  of 
Congress  in  relation  to  the  Mexican  question,  in  offering  to 
recognize  Maximilian,  after  Congress  had  voted  by  a  large 
majority  to  give  moral  support  only  to  the  Juarez  govern- 
ment. These  and  other  measures  of  his,  so  greatly  dissatisfied 
the  Eepublicans,  that  at  their  National  Convention  in  Baltimore, 
in  1864,  they  passed  a  resolution  requesting  the  President  to 
reconstruct  his  cabinet.  Mr.  Seward  tendered  his  resignation, 
as  did  some  of  the  other  cabinet  officers,  but  Mr.  Lincoln,  who 
knew  well  Mr.  Seward's  value  in  the  cabinet,  in  spite  of  his 
faults  and  errors,  refused  to  accept  his  resignation,  and  retained 
him  in  his  place. 

Mr.  Seward  is  by  nature  an  optimist,  always  looking  on  the 
favorable  side  of  a  subject,  and  indulging,  perhaps  too  much 
for  the  highest  order  of  statesmanship,  in  glowing  reveries  and 
predictions  of  the  wonderful  growth,  progress,  and  prosperity 
of  our  country  in  the  immediate  future.  During  the  war,  he 
excited  some  amusement  by  his  oft  repeated  prophecies  that 
it  would  close  in  sixty  or  ninety  days.  The  second  of  these 
predictions,  in  his  correspondence  on  the  Mason  and  Slidell 


220  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

affair  furnished  food  for  mirth  among  our  enemies  in  the  British 
Parliament  for  years. 

After  Mr.  Lincoln's  second  inauguration,  he  re-appointed  Mr. 
Seward  for  his  second  term,  and  in  the  closing  events  of  the 
war  in  the  east,  the  secretary  rendered  him  great  service. 

Early  in  April,  1865,  while  Mr.  Seward  was  riding  in  his 
carriage,  the  horses  became  frightened  and  ran,  and  in  attempt- 
ing to  jump  out,  he  was  thrown  to  the  ground,  and  his  right 
arm  was  broken,  and  both  sides  of  the  lower  jaw  fractured.  He 
was  severely  prostrated  by  this  accident,  and,  for  a  time,  serious 
fears  were  felt  for  his  recovery.  While  thus  confined  to  his 
bed,  he  narrowly  escaped  falling  a  victim  to  the  fiendish  plan 
of  the  conspirators  who  assassinated  President  Lincoln.  Almost 
simultaneously  with  the  attack  upon  Mr.  Lincoln,  an  assassin 
forced  his  way  into  Mr.  Seward's  chamber,  and  striking  down 
Mr.  Frederick  Seward,  and  overcoming  the  opposition  of  a 
male  nurse,  who  was  in  attendance,  reached  the  secretary's 
bedside  and  inflicted  upon  him  three  stabs  in  the  face,  which, 
however,  failed  of  their  deadly  intent,  although  they  greatly 
protracted  his  recovery.  The  assassin  fled,  but  was  subsequently 
arrested,  convicted,  and  executed. 

There  have  been  those,  even  among  the  strongest  friends  of 
Mr.  Seward  in  the  past,  who  have  been  so  uncharitable  as  to 
regret,  for  his  sake,  that  the  assassin  failed  of  the  complete 
accomplishment  of  his  purpose  at  that  time;  for,  they  have 
argued,  his  career  up  to  that  time  had  been  honorable  to  him- 
self and  a  glory  to  the  nation,  and  he  would  have  died  in  the 
odor  of  sanctity,  and  with  a  martyr's  halo  around  his  brow,  and 
have  been  remembered  in  all  the  future  as  the  great  statesman, 
who  loved  his  country  intensely,  and  laid  down  his  life  for  her 
sake. 

Without  avowing  any  sympathy  with  this  view,  candor  com- 


WILLIAM    HENRY   SEWARD.  221 

pels  us  to  say,  that  Mr.  Seward's  course  since  his  recovery  from 
those  wounds  of  the  assassin,  has  not  been  worthy  of  his  previ- 
ous illustrious  career.  Forgetful,  apparently,  of  his  past  intense 
loyalty  and  devotion  to  freedom,  he  has  sustained  Mr.  Johnson 
in  every  attempted  usurpation  of  power ;  has  assumed  a  super- 
cilious tone  in  addressing  the  people,  whose  servant  he  still  is ; 
has  been  vacillating  and  self-contradictory  in  his  intercourse 
with  foreign  powers,  and  has  attempted  to  distract  the  attention 
of  Congress  from  the  usurpations  and  crimes  of  his  chief,  by 
the  purchase  of  extensive  territories  away  from  our  previous  geo- 
graphical limits,  and  of  which  we  stood  in  no  need.  These  pur- 
chases have  been  made  without  any  consultations  with  Congress, 
and  solely  upon  his  own  judgment ;  the  prices  he  offered  for 
them  were  exorbitant,  and  they  were  understood  to  be  but 
the  stepping  stones  to  further  and  still  more  extensive  negotia- 
tions. His  purchase  from  Eussia  of  the  territory  of  Alaska,  for 
seven  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars  in  gold,  was  regarded  by 
most  of  our  people  as  unwise,  but  the  negotiations  had  already 
proceeded  so  far,  that  it  will  be  consummated ;  but  when  he  pro- 
ceeded to  buy  from  Denmark,  at  eight  or  ten  times  their  value, 
the  islands  of  St.  Thomas  and  Santa  Cruz,  the  home  of  earth- 
quakes and  hurricanes;  entered  upon  negotiations  with  San 
Domingo  for  the  bay  and  harbor  of  Samana,  and  turned  longing 
eyes  upon  the  island  of  Cuba,  all  felt  that  his  greed  for  land 
was  growing  too  great  to  be  longer  tolerated,  and  his  negotiations 
were  brought  to  an  ignoble  conclusion.  His  ulterior  object  of 
distracting  attention  from  Mr.  Johnson's  usurpations  failed  as 
signally,  and  he  was  involved,  even  more  fully  than  any  of  his 
colleagues,  in  the  disgrace  of  the  President. 

The  lesson  taught  to  all  statesmen  by  these  lamentable  errors 
in  the  conclusion  of  a  long  and  previously  honorable  and  illus- 
trious career,  is,  that  no  length  or  brilliancy  of  public  service. 


222  MEN  OF  OIJR  DAY- 

can  atone  for  great  departures  from  patriotism  and  loyalty,  and 
that  where  many  good  deeds  are  followed  by  a  few  evil  ones, 
the  evil  blot  out  from  the  memory  of  the  nation  all  the  previous 
good  acts.  Unpopularity  may,  indeed,  come  upon  a  public  ser- 
vant unjustly,  and  for  deeds  for  which  he  will  subsequently 
receive  honor ;  but  where  his  life-long  friends  feel  compelled  to 
withdraw  from  him,  and  in  the  communities  of  which  he  had 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century  been  the  popular  idol,  all  turn  away 
with  averted  gaze  at  his  approach,  the  presumption  is  that  his 
course  has  been  one  for  which  there  is  but  little  apology. 

In  person,  Mr.  Seward  is  not  prepossessing ;  small  of  stature, 
slender  and  pale,  careless  in  dress  and  manner,  and  with  a  sad  and 
somewhat  unpleasant  expression,  he  does  not  win  confidence  at 
first.  That  he  is  a  man  of  remarkable  gifts  and  talents,  none 
who  have  known  his  long  public  career  can  deny,  and  that, 
until  the  close  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life,  these  gifts  were  used  for 
patriotic  and  worthy  purposes  is  equally  true.  Let  us  hope, 
that  in  the  decline  of  life,  he  may  recover  some  of  his  old  pres- 
tige, and  again  be  found  doing  battle  for  the  right. 


HON.  HANNIBAL  HAMLIN. 


]HAT  can  you  raise  here?"  inquired  a  distinguished 
English  agriculturist,  of  a  friend,  a  citizen  of  Maine,  as 
they  were  traversing  the  rocky,  iron-bound  coast, 
against  which  the  North  Atlantic  dashes  its  waves  in 
summer  and  winter.  "  Your  soil  seems  so  rocky  and  sterile 
that  no  crops  will  thrive  in  it.  What  can  you  grow  ?"  "  We 
raise  MEN,"  was  the  proud  reply.  Yes,  the  sunrise  State  does 
raise  men,  and  one  of  the  best  of  her  products,  was  the  man 
whose  history  we  propose  here  to  sketch  briefly. 

HANNIBAL  HAMLIN  was  born  in  Paris,  Maine,  August  27th, 
1809.  His  ancestors  were  from  Massachusetts,  and  of  Puritan 
and  revolutionary  stock.  His  grandfather,  Eleazar  Hamlin, 
commanded  a  company  of  minute  men  in  the  revolution,  and 
had  five  sons  enrolled  under  him,  some  of  whom  served 
through  the  whole  war.  Cyrus,  one  of  the  sons  of  Eleazar 
Hamlin,  studied  medicine,  married  and  settled  at  Livermore, 
Oxford  county,  Maine,  where  he  acquired  a  very  extensive 
practice,  and  was  also  clerk  of  the  courts  for  Oxford  county, 
for  a  number  of  years.  Hannibal  was  the  sixth  son  of  Dr. 
Cyrus  Hamlin,  and,  from  his  boyhood,  was  a  studious,  manly 
boy.  His  brothers  have,  several  of  them,  attained  distinction. 
His  eldest  brother,  Elijah,  has  long  been  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent men  of  the  State ;  Cyrus,  another  brother,  is  well  known 

as  a  missionary  of  the  American  Board,  at  Constantinople,  and 

223 


224:  MEN    OF    OUR   DAY. 

is  now  at  the  head  of  the  Eobert  college  there.  Few  men  have 
been  more  widely  useful.  It  was  the  intention  of  Dr.  Hamlin 
to  give  Hannibal  a  collegiate  education,  and  before  he  was  six- 
teen, he  was  nearly  fitted  for  college,  when  the  failure  of  his 
brother  Cyrus's  health  led  to  a  change  of  plans,  and  he  com- 
menced the  study  of  medicine,  while  Hannibal  remained  at 
home  to  labor  on  the  farm,  employing  the  winter  in  surveying 
a  township  of  forest  land  on  Dead  river,  which  his  father  and 
others  had  purchased.  When  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age,  his 
father  directed  him  to  undertake  the  study  of  law,  with  his 
brother  Elijah.  He  commenced  his  studies,  but  at  the  end  of 
six  or  eight  months,  his  father  died,  and  he  returned  home,  and 
labored  on  the  farm,  for  the  next  two  years.  He  was  next,  for 
about  a  year,  joint  proprietor  and  editor  with  Horatio  King, 
afterwards  assistant  postmaster  general,  of  a  Democratic  news- 
paper, The  Jeffersonian,  published  at  Paris,  the  county  seat  of 
Oxford  county.  To  this  paper  he  contributed  both  prose  and 
poetical  articles.  But  his  inclination  was  still  to  the  study  of 
the  law,  and  having  sold  out  his  interest  in  the  paper,  he  entered, 
with  his  mother's  sanction,  the  office  of  Hon.  Joseph  G.  Cole, 
and,  for  the  next  three  years,  prosecuted  his  legal  studies  with 
him  and  with  the  firm  of  Fessenden,  Deblois,  and  Fessenden, 
the  junior  partner  being  the  present  Senator  from  Maine.  In 
January,  1833,  he  was  admitted  to  the  Oxford  county  bar,  and 
immediately  commenced  a  successful  practice,  which  continued 
to  increase  until  1851,  when  he  relinquished  farther  practice  of 
his  profession.  He  soon  after  removed  to  Hampden,  a  flourish- 
ing village  six  miles  below  Bangor,  on  the  Periobscot,  and 
married  the  same  year.  From  1836  to  1840,  he  was  each  year 
elected  to  the  State  Legislature,  and  in  1837,  1839,  and  1840,  was 
speaker  of  the  House.  In  1840,  he  was  the  Democratic  candi- 
date for  Eepresentative  in  Congress,  but  was  defeated  by  about 


HON.    HANNIBAL   HAMLIN.  225 

two  hundred  votes.     In  1843,  he  was  again  a  candidate  and 
was  elected  by  about  a  thousand  majority. 

Though  elected  as  a  Democrat,  and  voting  with  that  party  on 
all  other  questions,  Mr.  Hamlin,  from  the  commencement  of  his 
Congressional  careel",  uniformly  opposed  the  extension  and 
aggressions  of  slavery.  His  first  speech  in  Congress  was  in 
opposition  to  the  twenty-first  rule,  by  which  abolition  petitions 
were  excluded;  and  he  ably  and  strenuously  opposed  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  not  because  he  was  averse  to  new  acces- 
sions of  territory,  but  because  the  bill  provided  for  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery  there.  His  speech,  in  opposition  to  the  annexa- 
tion on  these  terms,  was  one  of  remarkable  eloquence,  and  its 
defence  of  New  England  against  the  attacks  of  southern  mem- 
bers, was  one  of  the  finest  passages  of  parliamentary  oratory. 
"I  am  sure,  sir,"  he  said,  "that  the  hardy  sons  of  the  ice-boufid 
region  of  New  England,  have  poured  out  their  blood  without 
stint,  to  protect  the  shores  of  the  South,  or  to  avenge  her 
wrongs  Their  bones  are  even  now  bleaching  beneath  the  sun, 
on  many  a  southern  hill ;  and  the  monuments  of  their  brave 
devotion  may  still  be  traced,  wherever  their  country's  flag  has 
floated  on  the  battle  field,  or  the  breeze,  upon  the  lakes,  the 
ocean,  and  the  land : — 

" '  New  England's  dead !  New  England's  dead ! 

On  every  field  they  lie, 
On  every  field  of  strife  made  red, 

With  bloody  victory ! 
Their  bones  are  on  our  northern  hills, 

And  on  the  southern  plain ; 
By  brook  and  river,  mount  and  rills, 

And  in  the  sounding  main.' 

"  I  glory  in  New  England  and  New  England's  institutions. 
There  she  stands,  with  her  free  schools,  and  her  free  labor,  her 
fearless  enterprise,  her  indomitable  energy !     With  her  rocky 
15 


226  MEN   OF   OUE  DAY. 

hills,  her  torrent  streams,  her  green  valleys,  her  heaven  pointed 
spires ;  there  she  stands  a  moral  monument  around  which  the 
gratitude  of  her  country  binds  the  wreath  of  fame,  while  pro- 
tected freedom  shall  repose  forever  at  its  base." 

Mr.  Hamlin  was  re-elected  to  Congress  in  1844,  and  though 
known  mainly  as  a  working,  rather  than  a  talking  member, 
(and  his  reputation  was  of  the  highest,  as  an  efficient  business 
man,)  he  took  some  part  in  the  debates,  handling  the  most  im- 
portant questions  with  great  ability.  Among  the  topics  on 
which  he  spoke  were  the  public  land  question;  on  giving 
notice  to  the  British  Government  to  terminate  the  joint  occu- 
pancy of  Oregon ;  on  the  mode  of  raising  troops  for  the  Mexican 
war ;  on  the  mode  of  increasing  the  army,  and  on  establishing  a 
territorial  government  for  Oregon.  He  also  offered  the  Wilmot 
Proviso  as'an  amendment  to  the  famous  "  three  million  bill." 

On  his  return  home  he  served  for  one  session  in  the  Maine 
Legislature,  and  in  May,  1848,  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy 
in  the  United  States  Senate,  caused  by  the  death  of  Ex-Gover- 
nor Fairfield.  In  July,  1851,  he  was  again  chosen  Senator, 
for  the  full  term,  by  th«  Democrats  and  Free  Soilers.  His 
decided  opposition  to  slavery  had  alienated  a  few  of  the  pro- 
slavery  Democrats  in  the  Legislature,  but  their  place  was  more 
than  supplied  by  the  Free  Soilers,  who  held  the  balance  of 
power  in  the  Maine  Legislature  at  this  time. 

In  the  Senate,  Mr.  Hamlin  almost  immediately  took  a 
position  as  one  of  the  ablest  members  of  that  body.  He  was 
not  given  to  participating  in  the  debates  on  trivial  matters,  but 
on  the  great  questions  of  the  time  he  usually  gave  his  care- 
fully considered  views,  and  they  commanded  the  attention  and 
respect  of  the  entire  Senate.  As  a  working  member,  he  had 
no  superior ;  he  was  chairman  of  the  very  important  Committee 
on  Commerce,  from  1849  till  hk  resignation  of  that  position  in 


HON.   HANNIBAL   HAMLIN.  227 

1856,  on  an  occasion  to  be  presently  noticed,  and  drew  up  and 
matured  many  of  the  bills  which  have  proved  so  beneficial 
to  our  national  commerce.  He  was  also  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  an  active  member  of 
other  important  committees.  He  was  outspoken  and  decided  in 
his  efforts  for  the  repression  of  slavery,  and  in  opposition  to  its 
aggressive  tendencies,  and  the  purpose  of  its  friends  to  extend  it 
over  all  the  new  territories,  from  his  entrance  into  the  Senate. 
One  of  his  earliest  speeches,  in  1848,  on  the  bill  providing  a 
territorial  government  for  Oregon,  denounced  in  strong  and 
manly  terms  this  purpose  of  the  pro-slavery  men,  and  in  the 
debates  on  the  admission  of  California,  he  was  equally  explicit 
and  earnest.  He  advocated  in  the  same  session  the  abolition  of 
the  practice  of  flogging  in  the  navy.  On  commercial  topics,  his 
most  important  and  effective  speeches  were,  on  the  ocean  mail 
service ;  on  regulating  the  liabilities  of  ship  owners ;  on  providing 
for  the  greater  security  of  lives  on  steamboats ;  in  defence  of 
the  river  and  harbor  bill ;  for  the  codifications  of  the  revenue 
laws,  etc. 

Up  to  1856,  Mr.  Hamlin  had  acted  with  the  Democratic  party 
on  all  questions,  except  those  connected  with  the  extension  of 
slavery,  directly  or  indirectly.  He  opposed  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  compromise,  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  bill,  and  the 
Fugitive  Slave  act,  but  in  all  these,  others  affiliated  with  that 
party  had  acted  with  him ;  but  the  time  came,  at  the  national 
Democratic  Convention  at  Cincinnati,  in  June,  1856,  when  that 
party  succumbed  to  the  slave  power,  and  delivered  themselves 
over  to  the  rule  and  dictation  of  the  South ;  then  Mr.  Hamlin 
felt  that  he  must  sever  the  ties  which  had  hitherto  bound  him 
to  them.  He  took  the  first  opportunity  of  doing  this  which 
offered,  rising  in  his  place  in  the  Senate,  June  12th,  1856,  swad 
resigning  his  position  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Com- 


228  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

merce,  and  assigning  as  his  reason,  that  after  the  platform  and 
resolutions  adopted  by  the  convention  at  Cincinnati,  he  could 
no  longer  maintain  political  associations  with  a  party  which  in- 
sisted on  such  doctrines.  Thenceforward,  he  became  identified 
with  the  Republican  party.  Two  or  three  weeks  later  he  was 
nominated  by  the  Republicans  for  Governor  of  Maine,  and 
made  a  personal  canvass  of  the  State,  speaking  nearly  one 
hundred  times  in  the  different  counties.  The  Democrats  had 
carried  the  State  by  a  large  majority  the  year  before,  and  were 
then  in  power,  but  Mr.  Hamlin  was  elected  in  September,  1856, 
by  an  absolute  majority  of  eighteen  thousand  over  both  the 
competing  candidates,  and  of  twenty-three  thousand  over  his 
Democratic  competitor,  more  than  double  the  majority  ever 
given  to  any  other  candidate  in  that  State.  On  the  7th  of 
January,  1857,  he  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  and  was  the 
same  day  inaugurated  Governor  of  Maine.  Nine  days  later, 
January  16th,  1857,  he  was  a  third  time  elected  to  the  Senate, 
for  the  term  of  six  years  from  March  4th,  1857,  and  on  the  20th 
of  February  resigned  the  office  of  governor,  and  took  his  seat 
again  in  the  Senate,  on  the  4th  of  March.  During  the  next  four 
years,  he  was  the  active  and  eloquent  defender  of  Republi- 
can principles  in  the  United  States  Senate,  discussing  the 
Kansas  question  with  consummate  ability,  attacking  the  Le- 
compton  Constitution,  replying  with  great  pungency  and  effect  to 
Senator  Hammond's  "  mud-sill"  speech,  and  repelling  his  assaults 
upon  the  free  laborers  of  the  North.  He  also  exposed  the  unfair- 
ness and  gross  sectional  partiality  of  the  Democratic  majority 
in  the  Senate,  in  the  formation  of  the  committees,  and,  in  an  able 
speech,  defended  American  rights  in  regard  to  the  fisheries. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  1860,  at  the  Republican  National  Conven- 
tion at  Chicago,  Mr.  Hamlin  was  nominated  as  the  candidate  of  the 
party  for  the  vice-presidency  on  the  ticket  with  Abraham  Lincoln. 


HON.   HANNIBAL    HAMLIN.  229 

The  nomination  was  entirely  unexpected  by  Mr.  Hamlin  and 
took  him  completely  by  surprise.  It  was  made  spontaneously 
and  with  great  unanimity.  The  ticket  was  elected,  and  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1861,  in  the  midst  of  civil  commotion  and  the 
loud  muttering  of  the  storm  which  was  so  soon  to  burst  upon 
the  nation,  President  and  Vice-President  were  inaugurated. 
During  the  four  years  that  followed,  Mr.  Hamlin  was  the 
President's  right  hand ;  calm,  patient,  clear-headed  and  far-seeing, 
he  was  able  to  give  wise  counsel,  and  enjoyed,  throughout  his 
administration,  Mr.  Lincoln's  fullest  confidence.  It  is  said  that 
in  the  history  of  our  country,  there  has  been  but  one  other 
instance,  in  which  there  was  full  and  perfect  harmony  between 
the  President  and  Vice- President,  and  that  was  in  the  case  of 
President  Jackson  and  Vice-President  Van  Buren.  As  the  pre- 
siding officer  of  the  Senate,  he  has  rarely,  if  ever,  been  equalled 
in  the  skill  with  which  he  conducted  its  proceedings  and  the 
dignity  with  which  he  guided  its  deliberations.  So  thorough 
was  his  knowledge  of  parliamentary  rules  and  usages,  and  of  the 
precedents  of  senatorial  action,  that  not  a  single  ruling  of  his, 
during  the  four  years  of  his  presidency  over  the  Senate,  was 
ever  over-ruled  by  that  body,  and  on  his  taking  leave  of  it  all 
parties  united  in  testifying  to  his  courtesy  and  impartiality. 

At  the  Baltimore  National  Eepublican  Convention,  in  1864,  it 
was  at  first  proposed  to  nominate  Mr.  Hamlin  again  to  the  vice- 
presidency,  which  he  had  filled  so  well ;  there  was  nothing  to  be 
objected  to  in  his  conduct,  and  very  much  to  praise ;  but  it  was 
represented  that  the  position  belonged,  by  right,  to  some  loyal 
representative  of  the  border,  or  seceded  States,  and  this  view 
prevailing,  Andrew  Johnson  was  nominated.  It  has  been  well 
said,  that  "with  Hannibal  Hamlin  in  the  vice-presidency,  either 
Mr.  Lincoln  would  not  have  been  assassinated,  or  we  should 


230  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

have  been  spared  the  trouble,  discord,  and  disgrace  which  has 

followed." 

In  July,  1865,  Mr.  Johnson  appointed  Mr.  Hamlin  collector 
of  the  port  of  Boston,  the  most  lucrative  office  in  New  England. 
He  held  the  position  about  thirteen  months,  when  becoming 
convinced  that  Mr.  Johnson  had  deserted  the  party  which 
elected  him,  and  abandoned  its  principles,  he  felt  that  he  could 
not  retain  the  office,  without  danger  of  being  identified  with 
Mr.  Johnson's  treachery,  and  resigned  it  in  the  following  manly 
letter. 

"  CUSTOM  HOUSE,  BOSTON,  COLLECTOR'S  OFFICE,  Aug.  28,  1866. 
"  To  the  President : — 

"  One  year  ago  you  tendered  to  me,  unsolicited  on  my  part, 
the  position  of  collector  of  customs,  for  the  District  of  Boston 
and  Charlestown.  I  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  office,  and 
have  endeavored  faithfully  to  discharge  the  same,  and  I  trust  in 
a  manner  satisfactory  to  the  public  interested  therein. 

"  I  do  not  fail  to  observe  the  movements  and  efforts  which 
have  been,  and  are  now  being  made  to  organize  a  party  in  the 
country,  consisting,  almost  exclusively,  of  those  actively  engaged 
in  the  late  rebellion,  and  their  allies,  who  sought  by  other  means 
to  cripple  and  embarrass  the  Government.  These  classes  of 
persons,  with  a  small  fraction  of  others,  constitute  the  organiza- 
tion. It  proposes  to  defeat  and  overthrow  the  Union  Eepubli- 
can  party,  and  to  restore  to  power,  without  sufficient  guaranties 
for  the  future,  and  protection  to  men  who  have  been  loyal,  those 
who  sought  to  destroy  the  Government. 

"  I  gave  all  the  influence  I  possessed  to  create  and  uphold  the 
Union  Eepublican  party  during  the  war,  and  without  the  aid 
of  which  our  Government  would  have  been  destroyed,  and  the 
rebellion  a  success. 

"  With  such  a  party  as  has  been  inaugurated,  and  for  such 
purposes,  I  have  no  sympathy,  nor  can  I  acquiesce  in  its 
measures  by  my  silence.  I  therefore  tender  to  you  rny  resig- 
nation of  the  office  of  collector  of  customs,  for  the  District  of 


HON.   HANNIBAL    HAMLIN.  231 

Boston  and  Charlestown,  to  take  effect  from  the  time  when  a 
successor  shall  be  appointed  and  qualified. 

"  Eespectfully  yours, 

"H.  HAMLIN." 

After  his  resignation,  Mr.  Hamlin  engaged  in  the  political 
canvass  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maine,  in  the  autumn 
of  1866,  and  then  returned  to  his  home  in  Bangor,  Maine,  where 
he  remained,  engaged  in  the  management  of  his  estate,  taking 
part,  however,  in  the  political  campaign  in  New  Hampshire  and 
Connecticut  in  the  spring  of  1868.  Mr.  Hamlin  was  the  first 
choice  of  several  of  the  States  for  the  vice-presidency  in  the 
National  Convention  of  May,  1868,  and  it  is  no  discredit  to  the 
other  eminent  and  able  candidates,  to  say  that  no  man  could 
have  filled  the  office  better  than  he. 

Mr.  Hamlin  is  about  six  feet  in  height,  though  apparently 
less,  in  consequence  of  his  having  a  slight  stoop.  His  athletic 
and  robust  form  gives  a  just  indication  of  his  great  physical 
energy  and  power  of  endurance.  His  complexion  is  dark,  and 
his  eyes  are  of  a  piercing  blackness.*  His  voice  is  clear,  strong, 
melodious  in  its  tones,  and  his  delivery  rapid,  energetic,  and 
highly  effective.  He  speaks  without  verbal  preparation,  but 
without  any  embarrassment,  and  with  remarkable  directness. 
Always  talking  to  the  point,  and  never  for  mere  effect,  he  is 
invariably  listened  to  with  respect  and  attention.  As  a  popular 
orator,  he  has  great  power  and  eloquence.  His  manners,  though 
dignified  and  decorous,  are  still  remarkable  for  their  republi- 
can simplicity.  At  his  home  on  the  Penobscot,  he  cultivates 

*  The  southern  political  speakers  and  leaders  in  the  presidential  cam- 
paign of  I860,  circulated  the  report  widely  throughout  the  South,  and  it 
was  extensively  credited  there,  that  Mr.  Hamlin  was  a  mulatto,  and  that  the 
Republicans  had  nominated  him  for  the  purpose  of  inciting  the  negroes  to 
rise  in  rebellion  against  their  masters.  Mr.  Hamlin's  dark  complexion  was 
the  only  thing  which  gave  the  slightest  plausibility  to  this  story. 


232  MEN    OP   OUR   DAY. 

his  small  farm  with  his  own  hands,  laboring  on  it  every  summer, 
with  all  the  regularity  and  vigor  of  his  youthful  days.  In  his 
moral  character,  Mr.  Hamlin  is  wholly  without  reproach,  a  man 
of  pure  and  Christian  life,  and  in  his  domestic  relations,  he  ia 
most  devoted  and  affectionate.  No  man  is  more  thoroughly 
faithful  to  his  friends  than  he,  and  none  more  highly  prizes  a 
true  friend.  His  native  State  honors  him,  and  with  reason,  for 
he  is  one  of  her  best  products,  a  manly,  noble  man  in  all  the 
relations  of  life. 


ENORAVKD  byAB.WAi.TKR  PHILAD" 


HON.  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  WADE, 

VICE-PRESIDENT    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


[T  would  be  hard  to  find  a  better  illustration  of  the  facility 
with  which,  under  Eepublican  institutions,  a  man  of 
genius  and  integrity  may  rise  from  obscurity  and 
humble  life  to  the  most  exalted  station,  than  is  afforded 
in  the  history  of  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Wade.  He  has  not,  it  is 
true,  like  his  predecessor,  "  filled  every  office,  from  alderman  of 
a  small  village  to  President  of  the  United  States,"  but  he  has 
risen  from  an  humble  though  honorable  and  honest  condition,  to 
the  highest  positions  in  the  gift  of  the  people,  and  through  all, 
has  maintained  himself  with  dignity,  propriety,  and  honor,  and 
with  a  reputation  for  unflinching  adherence  to  the  principles 
of  right,  justice,  and  freedom,  which  any  man  might  covet. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  WADE  was  born  in  Feeding  Hills 
Parish,  West  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  October  27th,  1800.  He 
was  the  youngest  of  ten  children.  His  father  was  a  soldier, 
who  fought  in  every  revolutionary  battle  from  Bunker  Hill  to 
Yorktown.  His  mother  was  the  daughter  of  a  Presbyterian 
clergyman,  a  woman  of  vigorous  intellect  and  great  force  of 
character.  She  fed  and  clothed  her  brood  while  the  father  was 
in  the  army.  The  family  was  one  of  the  poorest  in  New 
England.  A  portion  of  its  scanty  property  was  a  library  of 
twelve  books.  This  eventually  became  Benjamin's  possession 

He  read  the  volumes  through  and  through,  and  over  and  over, 

233 


234:  MEN   OP   OUB   DAY. 

after  his  mother  had  led  him  so  far  into  an  education  as  to 
teach  him  to  read  and  write.  "When  Ben  was  eighteen,  he 
tearfully  turned  his  back  on  the  old  plow  and  the  older  home- 
stead ;  and,  with  seven  dollars  in  his  pocket  and  a  bundle  of  cloth- 
ing  on  his  back,  started  to  walk  from  Springfield,  Massachu- 
setts, to  Illinois,  to  seek  his  fortune.  He  footed  it  to  Ashtabula 
county,  Ohio.  There,  the  snow  falling,  he  determined  to  wait 
for  spring  to  finish  his  journey ;  hired  himself  out  to  cut  wood 
in  the  forest  for  fifty  cents  per  cord,  and  snatched  hours  from 
sleep  at  night  to  read  the  Bible  by  the  light  of  the  fire  on  the 
hearth  of  the  log-cabin.  Both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ments are  at  his  tongue's  end.  Spring  came;  but  the  journey 
to  Illinois  and  fortune  was  suspended  by  a  summer's  work  at 
chopping,  logging,  and  grubbing,  followed  by  a  Yankee  winter 
at  school-teaching.  The  journey  was  suspended  by  a  second 
year  of  such  work,  and  was  finally  lost  in  an  experience  of 
driving  a  herd  of  cattle.  Wade  led  the  "  lead"  steer  of  a  drove 
from  Ohio  to  New  York.  Six  times  he  made  this  trip.  The 
last  ox  he  led  took  him  to  Albany.*  'Twas  winter.  Of  course, 

*  General  Brisbin  relates  that  on  one  of  these  occasions  Mr.  Wade  came 
near  losing  his  life.  He  was  leading  a  steer  as  usual  in  front  of  the  drove, 
when  he  came  to  a  long  covered  bridge.  The  gate-keeper,  according  to 
the  rules,  would  only  allow  a  few  of  the  herd  to  pass  over  at  a  time,  lest  their 
weight  should  injure  the  bridge.  Wade  started  with  the  advance  guard,  but 
the  cattle  in  the  rear  becoming  frightened,  rushed  into  the  bridge  and  stampe- 
ded. Young  Wade  made  haste  to  run,  but  finding  he  could  not  reach  the 
other  end  before  the  frantic  cattle  would  be  upon  him  and  trample  him  to 
death,  he  ran  to  one  of  the  posts,  and  springing  up,  caught  hold  of  the 
brace  and  drew  himself  up  as  high  as  possible.  He  could  barely  keep  his 
legs  out  of  the  way  of  the  horns  of  the  cattle,  but  he  held  on  while  the 
bridge  swayed  to  and  fro,  threatening  every  moment  to  break  under  the 
great  weight  that  was  upon  it.  At  length  the  last  of  the  frightened 
animals  passed  by,  and  our  dangling  hero  dropped  from  his  perch,  to  the 
astonishment  of  the  drover,  who  thought  he  had  been  crushed  to  death, 
and  was  riding  through  the  bridge,  expecting  every  moment  to  find  his 
crushed  and  mangled  body." 


HON.   BENJAMIN"  FRANKLIN   WADE.  235 

the  drover  then  expanded  into  a  school-teacher.  When  the  frost 
was  out  of  the  ground,  scholars  and  teacher  went  to  manual  labor. 
The  Erie  canal  got  the  teacher.  During  the  summer  of  1826 
Wade  shoveled  and  wheeled ;  "  The  only  American  I  know,"  said 
Governor  Seward,  in  a  speech  in  the  Senate,  "  who  worked  with 
a  spade  and  wheelbarrow  on  that  great  improvement."  An- 
other winter  of  school-teaching  in  Ohio,  and  the  persuasions 
of  Elisha  Whittlesey,  and  the  friendly  offer  of  a  tavern-keeper 
who  had  got  to  loving  Wade,  to  trust  him  bed  and  board 
without  limit,  drew  Ben,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  into  a  law 
office,  to  study  for  the  bar.  He  was  admitted  in  two  years. 
He  waited  another  year  for  his  first  suit. 

It  was  but  a  petty  offence  with  which  his  first  client  was 
charged,  but  the  young  lawyer  went  into  his  defence  with  all  his 
might,  and  secured  his  acquittal.  His  zeal  and  resolution  secured 
him  the  friendship  of  the  members  of  the  bar,  and  after  the 
trial  was  over,  the  good  old  presiding  judge  condescended  to 
privately  give  him  a  word  of  encouragement.  Mr.  Wade 
says  no  one  can  ever  know  how  much  good  the  kind  words 
of  the  judge  did  him,  and  how  they  put  courage  into  his 
heart  to  fight  the  future  battles  of  his  life.  Without  the  advan- 
tages of  early  education,  Mr.  Wade  felt  constantly  the  need 
of  close  application  to  his  law  books,  and  became  a  hard 
student.  The  lawyers  soon  began  to  notice  his  opinions,  and 
the  energy  and  confidence  he  threw  into  a  case.  He  had  a 
wonderful  deal  of  sense,  and  could  analyze  a  knotty  question 
with  surprising  ability.  Those  lawyers  who  were  far  his 
superiors  in  learning  and  eloquence  could  never  equal  the 
rough  backwoodsman  in  grasping  the  points  in  a  case  and 
presenting  them  to  the  jury. 

After  six  years  of  unremitting  toil,  Wade  found  himself  em- 
ployed in  almost  every  case  of  importance  litigated  in  the 


236  MEN"   OF   OUK   DAT. 

circuit  where  he  practiced.  He  was  now  a  man  of  note;  his 
law  business  was  constantly  increasing,  and  money  was  coming 
in  to  fill  his  pocket.  He  felt,  as  a  thousand  other  men  have 
felt,  that  the  struggle  of  his  life  was  over ;  that  it  was  no  longer 
with  him  simply  a  fight  for  bread.  The  world  had  been  met 
and  conquered,  and  the  master  began  to  look  about  him,  and 
consider  other  matters  than  mere  questions  of  food  and  clothing. 
Like  most  men  who  have  taken  the  rough  world  by  the  throat 
and  conquered  it,  Mr.  Wade  felt  how  completely  he  was  self- 
made,  and  how  little  he  had  to  fear  from  the  future. 

In  1835,  he  was  elected  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  county 
of  Ashtabula.  His  talent  for  special  pleading  was  remarkable, 
and  his  indictments  are  considered  models  at  the  present  time. 

In  1837,  Mr.  Wade  was  offered  the  nomination  to  the  State 
Senate  from  his  district,  and  reluctantly  accepted.  This,  Mr. 
Wade  contends  to  this  day,  was  the  great  mistake  of  his  life. 
He  has  been  continually  successful  in  politics,  and  reached  the 
second  office  in  the  nation ;  but  he  never  fails  to  warn  young 
men  to  stick  to  their  professions,  and  let  politics  alone.  The 
empty  honors  of  public  life,  he  contends,  never  repay  the  poli- 
tician for  the  toils  and  troubles  that  beset  him  at  every  step ; 
and  a  quiet  home  is  infinitely  to  be  preferred  to  the  highest 
political  honor. 

He  was  just  entering  his  thirty-eighth  year  when  he  took  his 
seat  in  the  State  Senate  of  Ohio,  and  at  once  began  his  political 
career  with  the  same  earnestness  that  had  characterized  his 
course  at  the  bar.  As  a  new  member,  he  expected  no  position ; 
but  his  fame  as  a  lawyer  had  preceded  him  to  the  capitol,.and 
he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Judiciary  Committee. 

Mr.  Wade  first  directed  his  efforts  to  the  repeal  of  the  laws 
of  Ohio  whereby  the  poor  but  honest  man  could  be  imprisoned 
for  debt  by  his  creditor.  He  rapidly  rose  to  the  leadership  of 


HON.   BENJAMIN   FBANKLIN   WADE.  237 

the  little  squad  of  Whigs  in  the  State  Senate,  and  although 
greatly  in  the  minority,  he  handled  his  small  force  so  effectively 
as  to  keep  the  Democrats  always  on  the  defensive. 

The  question  of^the  annexation  of  Texas  coming  up,  Mr. 
Wade  made  haste  to  take  bold  grounds  against  slavery.  He 
said: 

"  This  State  of  Texas  coming  to  the  Union,  as  it  must  (if  at 
all),  with  the  institution  of  slavery  interwoven  with  its  social 
habits,  being  brought  into  this  Union  for  the  sole  object  of  ex- 
tending the  accursed  system  of  human  bondage,  it  cannot  have 
my  voice  or  vote ;  for,  so  help  me  God,  I  will  never  assist  in 
adding  one  rood  of  slave  territory  to  this  country." 

Soon  after  his  efforts  to  prevent  the  extension  of  slavery,  the 
black  people  of  Ohio  began  an  active  movement  for  relief  from 
the  oppressive  State  laws,  and  appealed  to  Mr.  Wade  to  help 
them.  He  took  their  petition  and  presented  it  in  the  Senate, 
asking  that  "  all  laws  might  be  repealed  making  distinctions 
among  the  people  of  Ohio  on  account  of  color."  This  raised  a 
storm  of  indignation,  and  even  some  of  Mr.  Wade's  personal 
and  party  friends  warned  him  to  desist  in  his  efforts  to  place  a 
negro  on  equal  footing  with  a  white  man,  but  Wade  sternly  re- 
buked them,  and  insisted  on  his  petitions  being  heard.  At  first 
the  Senate  refused  to  hear  what  the  negroes  had  to  say,  but  at 
length  received  their  petition,  and  at  once  laid  it  on  the  table, 
Mr.  Wade  protesting,  and  saying,  with  great  vehemence  and 
earnestness  to  the  majority :  "  Eemember,  gentlemen,  you  have, 
by  your  votes,  in  this  free  State  of  Ohio,  so  treated  a  part  of  her 
people,  these  black  men  and  women." 

At  the  close  of  his  senatorial  term,  Mr.  Wade  found  his  negro 
doctrines  had  made  him  unpopular  with  his  constituents.  When 
the  convention  met  in  his  district,  he  was  not  only  passed  over 
and  a  new  man  nominated,  but  some  of  the  delegates  thought  it 
would  be  a  good  thing  to  censure  him  for  his  course.  Mr. 


238  MEN   OF   OUR   DAT. 

Wade  had  given  great  offence  by  his  vehement  opposition  to 
State  appropriations  for  internal  improvements,  and  the  Com- 
missioners appointed  by  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  to  visit 
Ohio  and  obtain,  as  Mr.  Wade  said,  "  the  passage  of  a  law  to 
degrade  the  people  of  Ohio." 

The  bill  they  sought  to  have  made  a  law,  was  one  of  pains 
and  penalties,  intended  to  repulse  from  Ohio  the  unhappy 
negro,  whether  bond  or  free — flying  from  the  cruelty  of  a  mas- 
ter— or,  if  manumitted,  from  the  persecution  of  the  superior 
class  of  laborers  in  a  slave  State,  who  abhor  such  rivals.  Mr. 
Wade's  noble  nature  revolted  against  the  tyranny  which  would 
not  allow  human  beings  a  refuge  anywhere  on  a  continent  from 
which  they  had  no  outlet,  and  into  which  they  had  been 
dragged  against  their  will ;  and  he  opposed  the  measure  with  all 
his  might. 

Mr.  Wade,  conscious  that  he  had  done  right,  when  his  sena- 
torial term  was  out,  returned  to  his  home  and  recommenced  the 
practice  of  law,  resolving  never  again  to  stand  for  any  political 
office.  In  1840,  when  General  Harrison  was  nominated  for 
President,  Mr.  Wade,  yielding  to  the  wishes  of  his  friends  and 
the  excitement  and  enthusiasm  of  the  hour,  took  the  stump, 
and  in  this  campaign,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  became  a 
stump  orator.  His  speeches  were  plain,  matter-of-fact  talks, 
which  the  people  thoroughly  understood,  and  he  became  popu- 
lar. He  passed  over  the  Reserve,  addressing  thousands  of  peo- 
ple, and  laboring  day  and  night  for  General  Harrison's  election. 
As  soon  as  the  canvass  was  over,  he  returned  to  his  law  office, 
at  Jefferson,  and  began  to  work  up  his  cases  again,  regretting 
that  he  had  not  paid  more  attention  to  his  clients,  and  less  to 
politics.  He  had  remained  single  till  his  forty-first  year,  but 
then  met  with  the  lady  who  subsequently  became  his  wife,  at 
the  residence  of  a  client.  His  marriage  has  been  an  eminently 


HON.  BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN   WADE.  239 

happy  one,  and  his  two  children,  both  sons,  distinguished  them- 
selves and  did  honor  to  the  name  they  bear,  during  the  late 
war. 

In  1841,  the  pepple  of  Ohio  having  come  to  thoroughly 
understand  and  detest  the  speculations  of  internal  improvements, 
and  the  Kentucky  black  laws,  Mr.  Wade's  views  were  adopted, 
and  he  became  popular  as  a  wise  legislator.  The  people  of  his 
district  tendered  him  a  re-nomination  to  the  State  Senate,  but 
he  declined.  When  the  convention  met,  however,  he  was  placed 
in  nomination  and  triumphantly  elected,  by  a  largely  increased 
majority  over  his  former  election. 

No  sooner  had  he  taken  his  seat  than  he  renewed  his  labors 
in  behalf  of  equal  rights,  and  the  repeal  of  all  laws  making  dis- 
tinctions on  account  of  color.  He  brought  forward  the  petition 
of  Greorge  W.  Tyler,  and  fifty-four  other  persons,  praying  for 
the  repeal  of  the  fugitive  slave  law,  passed  by  Ohio,  in  1838,  to 
please  Kentucky.  Wade  argued,  in  an  able  speech,  that  negroes 
were  men  the  same  as  white  persons,  and  as  such  entitled  to 
personal  liberty,  trial  by  jury,  testimony  in  the  courts,  and  com- 
mon school  privileges.  Kentucky  was  then  opposed  to  all 
these  things,  and  used  her  influence  with  Ohio  to  prevent  her 
from  adopting  a  liberal  and  just  policy  toward  her  black 
population.  That  was  in  1841,  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  centu- 
ry ago,  and  although  it  cannot  be  said  Kentucky  has  advanced 
much  in  the  business  of  securing  her  black  people  equal  rights, 
she  has  done  much  toward  changing  their  complexion.  Herein 
Kentucky  and  her  people  differed  from  Mr.  Wade  and  the  peo- 
ple of  Ohio ;  Kentucky  desired  to  equalize  her  population  by 
nature,  Ohio  by  law.  Of  the  two  processes  we  think  posterity 
will  incline  to  the  belief  that  the  former  was  the  best. 

In  February,  1842,  a  "  bill  for  the  incorporation  of  Oberlin 
Collegiate  Institute,  an  institution  for  the  education  of  persons, 


240  MEN   OP   OUR   DAY. 

without  regard  to  race  or  color,"  came  up  in  the  Senate  of  Ohio. 
Mr.  Wade  advocated  the  bill,  but  it  was  voted  down.  This 
bill  afterward  passed,  and  was  the  foundation  of  the  excellent 
college  at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  an  institution  that  has  furnished  more 
than  five  hundred  anti-slavery  missionaries,  teachers  and  preach- 
ers, and  done  more  than  any  other  college  to  unmask  the  de- 
formities of  the  system  of  human  bondage. 

While  he  was  in  the  State  Senate,  the  people  of  Ohio  peti- 
tioned their  Legislature  to  protest  against  the  infamous  resolu- 
tion, passed  by  Congress  in  1837,  relating  to  slavery.  This 
resolution  was  in  these  words : 

Resolved,  That  all  petitions,  memorials,  and  papers  touching 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  or  buying,  selling  or  transferring  of 
slaves  in  any  State,  District  or  Territory  of  the  United  States, 
be  laid  on  the  table  without  being  debated,  read  or  referred, 
and  that  no  further  action  whatever  shall  be  taken  thereon. 

Mr.  Wade  was  appointed  a  special  committee,  and  the  peti- 
tion of  the  people  of  Ohio,  and  the  resolution  complained  of, 
referred  to  him  with  directions  to  make  a  report  on  them.  It 
is  said  Wade  read  and  examined,  for  three  weeks,  books  and  au- 
thorities, before  he  began  writing  his  report ;  be  that  as  it  may, 
certain  it  is,  his  report  was  at  the  time,  and  is  still,  regarded 
as  one  of  the  ablest  anti-slavery  documents  ever  published 
in  this  country.  Thirty  years  have  elapsed  since  then,  and  yet 
in  all  that  time  few  reasons  have  been  advanced  against  slavery 
that  cannot  be  found  embodied  in  Mr.  Wade's  report. 

At  the  same  session  he  defended,  with  great  ability  and  elo- 
quence, the  course  of  John  Quincy  Adams  in  upholding  the 
right  of  petition  in  Congress.  Mr.  Adams  had  been  censured 
by  the  House  ^for  presenting  the  Haverhill  resolutions,  asking 
for  the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  and  the  Ohio  Legislature 
undertook  to  justify  that  censure,  but  Mr.  Wade  and  his  anti- 


HON.  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  WADE.  241 

slavery  friends,  resisted  the  course  of  the  Democratic  majority 
with  great  energy  and  ability,  though  not  with  success. 

At  the  close  of  his  second  senatorial  term,  Mr.  "Wade  declined 
a  renomination,  and  again  determined  to  leave  off,  forever, 
political  life.  From  1842  to  1847  he  held  no  public  office,  and 
devoted  himself  to  the  practice  of  his  profession  and  the  care  of 
his  family. 

In  February,  1847,  Mr.  "Wade  was  elected,  by  the  Legislature, 
president  judge  of  the  th;rd  judicial  district  of  the  State  of 
Ohio.  His  popularity  at  this  time  was  unbounded.  It  has 
been  the  fortune  of  but  few  men  to  enter  upon  the  discharge  of 
judicial  duties,  having  in  advance  secured  to  such  an  extent 
the  unqualified  confidence  of  the  bar  and  people.  He  entered 
immediately  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties.  His  district  em- 
braced the  populous  counties  of  Ashtabula,  Trumbull,  Maho- 
ning,  Portage,  and  Summit.  The  business  had  accumulated 
vastly  under  his  predecessor.  The  same  territory  has  now  three 
resident  judges,  with  but  slightly  increased  business. 

It  is  but  truth  to  say,  that  in  no  country  on  earth  has  the 
same  number  of  people  had  the  same  amount  of  important  and 
satisfactory  justice  administered  to  them  in  the  same  length  of 
time,  as  had  the  district  under  the  administration  of  Judge 
"Wade.  The  younger  members  of  the  profession,  who  were  so 
fortunate  as  to  practice  in  this  circuit  during,  Judge  "Wade's 
term  upon  the  bench,  will  remember  with  lasting  gratitude  his 
kindness  and  judicial  courtesy. 

During  the  time  he  was  upon  the  bench,  Judge  "Wade  in- 
creased (if  possible)  in  the  confidence  and  admiration  of  his 
political  friends,  and  disarmed  those  who  had  differed  with  him, 
and  had  felt  the  withering  power  of  his  logic  and  eloquence  on 
the  stump  and  at  the  bar.  His  judicial  career  was  brought  to 

a  sudden  and  unexpected  close  in  March,  1851,  while  he  was 
16 


'242  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

holding  a  term  of  court  at  Akron,  Summit  county,  by  his  elec- 
tion by  the  Legislature,  then  in  session,  to  the  United  States 
Senate. 

When  the  news  of  his  election  reached  him,  Judge  Wade 
was  on  the  bench  trying  a  case.  The  firing  of  cannon,  and 
shouting  of  men,  announced  that  some  unusual  event  had  taken 
place,  and  presently  a  boy  came  running  into  the  court  with  a 
dispatch  informing  Mr.  Wade  he  had  been  elected  a  United 
States  Senator  from  Ohio. 

The  intelligence  surprised  no  one  so  much  as  the  judge,  who 
had  no  knowledge  that  his  name  had  been  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  it,  and  had  made  no  efforts  to  secure  a  nomination. 
The  members  of  the  bar  in  his  judicial  district  were  full  of 
regret  at  his  loss  to  the  bench,  but  were  pleased  that  his  talents 
were  at  last  appreciated.  Kesolutions  of  mingled  regret  and 
congratulation  were  passed,  almost  unanimously,  in  the  various 
counties  comprising  his  circuit. 

Mr.  Wade  was  again  persuaded  to  reluctantly  give  up  his 
law  business,  and  go  into  politics.  He  did  so,  however,  with 
less  regret  this  time  than  before,  because  the  people  of  Ohio 
had  come  up  to  his  anti-slavery  views.  He  felt  that  in  repre- 
senting the  majority  of  the  people  of  his  State,  he  need  make 
no  sacrifice  of  his  own  opinions,  and  he  was  most  anxious  to 
attack  slavery  at  the  capital,  and,  if  possible,  arouse  the  people 
of  the  country  to  the  enormities  of  the  institution,  as  he  had 
aroused  the  people  of  Ohio. 

After  his  election  to  the  United  States  Senate,  in  1851,  Mr. 
Wade  resigned  his  seat  on  the  bench,  and  retired  to  his  home 
at  Jefferson.  • 

In  1852,  Mr.  Wade  advocated  the  nomination  and  election  of 
General  Scott  to  the  presidency.  He  still  insisted,  and  ardently 
hoped,  that  the  Whig  party,  with  which  he  had  always  acted 


HON.   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN   WADE.  243 

and  in  which  he  saw  so  much  to  approve  and  admire,  would 
yet  be  instrumental  in  bringing  back  the  Government  to  the 
purpose  of  its  founders.  Stimulated  by  this  consideration,  he 
again  took  the  stump,  in  and  out  of  Ohio,  and  made  the  hustings 
ring  with  the  clarion  sound  of  his  voice.  Wherever  he  was 
heard,  his  reasoning  was  listened  to  with  the  most  profound 
attention ;  and  where  he  failed  to  convince,  he  obtained  credit 
for  honesty  of  purpose  and  powerful  effort. 

Mr.  Wade  continued  to  act  with  the  Whig  party  until  1854, 
when  the  proposition  to  repeal  the  Missouri  Compromise  began 
to  agitate  Congress.  In  March,  1854,  he  made  a  speech  in  the 
Senate,  clearly  defining  his  position,  and  fully  demonstrating 
his  determined  hostility  to  a  measure  which,  he  predicted,  would 
be  fraught  with  more  evil  to  the  country,  and  danger  to  its 
peace,  than  had  ever  before  disturbed  its  prosperity.  After  this 
speech  he  contented  himself  with  watching  the  events  which  he 
saw  must  ultimately  end  in  the  consummation  of  all  the  evils  he 
had  predicted.  He  learned,  by  discussion  of  the  measure,  that 
it  was  to  be  carried  by  a  combination  of  the  southern  Whigs, 
and  those  who  for  the  occasion  assumed  the  name  of  "National 
Democrats."  At  this  union  for  such  a  purpose,  his  heart 
sickened,  and  he  prepared  himself  to  give  utterance  to  the  noble 
sentiments  and  awful  warnings  contained  in  his  speech,  delivered 
on  the  night  of  the  final  passage  of  that  measure  in  the  Senate. 
The  Tribune  of  that  date  appropriately  called  that  speech  "  the 
new  Declaration  of  Independence."  In  this  speech  Mr.  Wade 
takes  a  final  farewell  of  his  former  Whig  friends  of  the  South, 
but  not  until  he  had  seen  solemnized  the  nuptials  between  them 
and  the  Democratic  party.  We  cannot  refrain  from  giving  a 
few  extracts  from  this  speech.  He  said : — 

"ME.  PRESIDENT:  I  do  not  intend  to  debate  this  subject  further. 
The  humiliation  of  the  North  is  complete  and  overwhelming. 


244'  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

No  southern  enemy  of  hers  can  wish  her  deeper  degradation. 
God  knows  I  feel  it  keenly  enough,  and  I  have  no  desire  to 
prolong  the  melancholy  spectacle.  *  *  *  I  have  all  my  life 
belonged  to  the  great  National  Whig  party,  and  never  yet  have 
I  failed,  with  all  the  ability  I  have,  to  support  her  regular 
candidates,  come  from  what  portion  of  the  Union  they  might, 
and  much  oftener  has  it  been  my  lot  to  battle  for  a  southern 
than  for  a  northern  candidate  for  the  presidency;  and  when 
such  candidates  were  assailed  by  those  who  were  jealous  of 
slaveholders,  and  did  not  like  to  yield  up  the  Government  to 
such  hands,  how  often  have  I  encountered  the  violent  prejudices 
of  my  own  section  with  no  little  hazard  to  myself.  How  tri- 
umphantly would  I  appeal  on  such  occasions  to  southern 
honor — to  the  magnanimity  of  soul  which  I  believed  always 
actuated  southern  gentlemen.  Alas !  alas !  if  God  will  pardon 
me  for  what  I  have  done,  I  will  promise  to  sin  no  more.  *  *  * 
We  certainly  cannot  have  any  further  political  connection  with 
the  Whigs  of  the  South  ;  they  have  rendered  such  connection 
impossible.  An  impassable  gulf  separates  us,  and  must  here- 
after separate  us.  The  southern  wing  of  the  old  Whig  party 
have  joined  their  fortunes  with  what  is  called  the  National 
Democracy,  and  I  wish  you  joy  in  your  new  connections.  *  *  * 
To-morrow,  I  believe,  is  to  be  an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  and  I  think 
it  perfectly  meet  and  proper  that  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  and 
the  glory  of  the  Kepublic  should  both  go  into  obscurity  and 
darkness  together.  Let  the  bill  then  pass ;  it  is  a  proper  oc- 
casion for  so  dark  and  damning  a  deed." 

X  '  extract  can  do  any  thing  like  justice  to  the  mind  that 
conceived,  and  the  noble  manliness  that  gave  this  speech  utter- 
ance. From  the  time  Mr.  Wade  made  this  speech,  he  has 
known  no  Whig  party,  but  devoted  himself,  soul  and  body,  to  the 
advocacy  and  defence  of  the  measures  of  the  Republican  party. 

In  the  struggle  over  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  Mr.  Wade 
came  fully  before  the  country  as  a  debater.  The  southern  fire- 
eaters  and  northern  doughfaces  combined  to  break  him  down, 


HOX.   BEXJAMIX   FKAXKLIN   WADE.  245 

but  he  hurled  them  back  with  surprising  ability,  and  for  the 
first  time  the  southerners  learned  they  had  a  northern  master 
in  the  United  States  Senate,  and  were  overmatched  whenever 
they  came  in  contact  with  the  old  Ohio  Senator.*  The  New 

*  It  is  to  this  portion  of  Mr.  Wade's  career  that  the  story  so  graphically 
told  by  General  Brisbin  belongs,  and  it  illustrates  so  well  his  utter  fear- 
lessness that  we  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  it, 

Soon  after  taking  his  seat,  he  witnessed  one  of  those  scenes  so  common 
in  the  Senate  in  those  days.  A  southern  fire-eater  made  an  attack  on  a 
northern  Senator,  and  "Wade  was  amazed  and  disgusted  at  the  cringing, 
cowardly  way  in  which  the  northern  man  bore  the  taunts  and  insults  of 
the  hot-headed  southerner.  As  no  allusion  was  made  to  himself  or  State, 
Mr.  Wade  sat  still,  but  when  the  Senate  adjourned,  he  said  openly,  if  ever 
a  southern  Senator  made  such  an  attack  on  him  or  his  State  while  he  sat 
on  that  floor,  he  would  brand  him  as  a  liar.  This  coming  to  the  ears  of  the 
southern  men,  a  Senator  took  occasion  to  pointedly  speak  a  few  days  after- 
wards of  Ohio  and  her  people  as  negro  thieves.  Instantly  Mr.  Wade 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  pronounced  the  Senator  a  liar.  The  s6uthern 
Senators  were  thunderstruck,  and  gathered  around  their  champion,  while 
the  northern  men  grouped  about  Wade.  A  feeler  was  put  out  from  the 
southern  side,  looking  to  retraction,  but  Mr.  Wade  retorted  in  his 
peculiar  style,  and  demanded  an  apology  for  the  insult  offered  himself 
and  the  people  he  represented.  The  matter  thus  closed,  and  a  fight  was 
looked  upon  as  certain.  The  next  day  a  gentleman  called  on  the  Sena- 
tor from  Ohio,  and  asked  the  usual  question  touching  his  acknowledgment 
of  the  code. 

"  I  am  here,"  he  responded,  "  in  a  double  capacity.  I  represent  the  State 
of  Ohio,  and  I  represent  Ben.  Wade.  As  a  Senator  I  am  opposed  to  duelling. 
As  Ben.  Wade,  I  recognize  the  code." 

"  My  friend  feels  aggrieved,"  said  the  gentleman,  "  at  what  you  said  in 
the  Senate  yesterday,  and  will  ask  for  an  apology  or  satisfaction." 

"I  was  somewhat  embarrassed,"  continued  Senator  Wade,  "by  my  posi- 
tion yesterday,  as  I  have  some  respect  for  the  Chamber.  I  now  take  this 
opportunity  to  say  what  I  then  thought,  and  you  will,  if  you  please,  repeat 
it.  Your  friend  is  a  foul-mouthed  old  blackguard." 

"  Certainly,  Senator  Wade,  you  do  not  wish  me  to  convey  such  a  message 
as  that  ?" 

"Most  undoubtedly  I  do;  and  will  tell  you  for  your  own  benefit,  this 
friend  of  yours  will  never  notice  it,  I  will  not  be  asked  for  either  retrac- 
t'v  >,  explanation,  or  a  fight." 

Xext  morning  Mr.  Wade  came  into  the  Senate,  and  proceeding  to  his 
seat,  deliberately  drew  from  under  his  coat  two  large  pistols,  and  unlocking 


246  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

York  Tribune,  speaking  of  his  first  great  speech  on  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill  says : — 

"  There  are  many  fine  orations  and  good  arguments  delivered 
in  the  United  States  Senate  from  time  to  time,  but  not  often  a 
really  good  speech.  In  order  to  have  a  good  speech,  there  must 
be  a  man  behind  it.  Such  a  speech  we  have  in  the  powerful 
effort  of  Judge  Wade,  and  in  this  case  the  speech  is  but  the  just 
measure  of  the  man." 

Numberless  are  the  incidents  told  of  Mr.  Wade's  sharp  and 
telling  hits  made  during  this  protracted  and  famous  debate. 
We  subjoin  a  few,  for  most  of  which  we  are  indebted  to  General 
Brisbin. 

his  desk  laid  them  inside.  The  southern  men  looked  on  in  silence, 'while 
the  northern  members  enjoyed  to  the  fullest  extent  the  fire-eaters'  surprise 
at  the  proceedings  of  the  plucky  Ohio  Senator.  No  further  notice  was 
taken  of  the  affair  of  the  day  before.  Wade  was  not  challenged,  but  ever 
afterwards  treated  with  the  utmost  politeness  and  consideration  by  the 
Senator  who  had  so  insultingly  attacked  him. 

But,  while  Mr.  "Wade  was  not  to  be  intimidated  by  the  bullying  of  southern 
fire-eaters,  no  man  living  surpassed  him  in  his  intense  contempt  for  northern 
doughfaces.  Another  incident,  not  narrated  by  Gen.  Brisbin,  but  which 
occurred  in  the  session  of  1852-3  illustrates  this  very  forcibly.  Hon.  Charles 
G.  Atherton  of  New  Hampshire,  better  known  as  "  Gag  Atherton,"  from  his 
introduction  of  the  resolution  to  lay  all  anti-slavery  petitions  on  the  table, 
was  emphatically  a  "  Northern  man  with  Southern  principles."  One  day,  Mr. 
Wade,  who  was  personally  very  popular,  even  with  his  political  opponents, 
was  conversing  with  Ex-Governor  Morehead  of  Kentucky,  who  was  then 
visiting  Washington,  when  Atherton  came  up,  and  at  once  began  an  attack 
on  Mr.  Wade,  in>  regard  to  the  Fugitive  Slave  law.  "  Why,  Mr.  Wade," 
he  said,  "if  a  nigger  had  run  away  from  a  good  master  in  Kentucky,  and 
came  to  your  house  in  Ohio,  woiildn't  you  arrest  him,  and  send  him  back 
to  his  master?"  "No!  indeed,  I  wouldn't;"  replied  Mr.  Wade.  "Would 
you,  Atherton?"  "Certainly,  I  would,"  replied  Mr.  Atherton,  "I  should 
deem  it  my  duty,  to  enforce  that  as  much  as  any  other  law."  Mr.  Wade 
turned  to  Morehead;  "Well,  Governor,  what  do  you  say?  Would  you 
arrest  a  nigger  and  send  him  back  under  such  circumstances?"  "No," 
replied  Governor  Morehead,  gruffly,  "  I'd  see  him  d— d  first."  "  Well,"  said 
Old  Ben,  after  a  moment's  pause,  "  I  don't  know  as  I  can  blame  you,  seeing 
you  have  got  such  a  thing  as  this"  (pointing  to  Atherton)  to  do  it  for  you." 


HON.   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN  WADE.  247 

Mr.  Pugh,  Judge  Wade's  colleague  in  the  Senate,  was  an 
intense  pro-slavery  Democrat ;  lie  was  a  man  of  very  fair  ability, 
but  no  match  in  wit  or  sarcasm  for  his  radical  colleague,  yet  he 
often  sought  a  collision,  and  Mr.  Wade  never  hesitated  to  reply 
to  his  challenge.  One  day,  Pugh  had  put  some  taunting  ques- 
tions to  him  respecting  the  common  brotherhood  of  mankind ; 
Wade  replied : — 

"  I  have  always  believed,  heretofore,  in  the  doctrines  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  that  all  men  are  born  free  and 
equal ;  but  of  late  it  appears  that  some  men  are  born  slaves,  and 
I  regret  that  they  are  not  black,  so  all  the  world  might  know 
them."  As  he  said  this  he  pointed  to  Pugh,  and  stood  looking 
at  him  for  several  moments,  with  a  scowl  and  expression  of 
countenance  that  was  perfectly  ferocious. 

Mr.  Brown,  of  Mississippi,  interrupted  him  just  as  he  had 
said,  "  1  know  very  well,  sir,  with  what  a  yell  of  triumph  the 
passage  of  this  bill  will  be  hailed  both  in  the  South  and  in 
pandemonium." 

Mr.  Brown. — "Do  you  know  what  is  going  on  there?" 
[Laughter.] 

Mr.  Wade. — "  I  do  not  pretend  to  know  precisely  what  is  on 
foot  there;  but  I  think  it  pretty  evident  that  there  is  a  very 
free  communication  between  that  country  and  this  body,  and 
unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  I  see  the  dwarfish  medium  by 
which  that  communication  is  kept  up."  [Great  laughter,  and  a 
voice  on  the  southern  side,  "  I  guess  he's  got  you,  Brown."] 

During  the  argument  on  the  Nebraska  bill,  Mr.  Badger,  then 
a  Senator  from  North  Carolina,  drew  a  glowing  picture  of 
slavery.  He  had,  he  said,  been  nursed  by  a  black  woman,  and 
had  grown  from  childhood  to  manhood  under  her  care.  He 
loved  his  old  black  mammy;  and  now,  if  he  was  going  to 
Nebraska,  and  the  opponents  of  the  bill  succeeded  i»  prohibit- 


248  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

ing  slavery  there,  he  could  not  take  his  old  mammy  with  him 
Turning  to  Mr.  Wade,  he  said : — "  Surely  you  will  not  prevent 
me  from  taking  my  old  mammy  with  me  ?" 

"Certainly  not,"  replied  Mr.  Wade;  "but  that  is  not  the 
difficulty  in  the  mind  of  the  Senator.  It  is  because,  if  we  make 
the  territory  free,  he  cannot  sell  his  old  mammy  when  he  has 
got  her  there." 

Mr.  Wade  was  arguing  to  show  that  slaves  were  not  property 
in  the  constitutional  meaning  of  the  term.  He  said :  "  If  a  man 
carries  his  horse  out  of  a  slave  State  into  a  free  one,  he  does 
not  lose  his  property  interest  in  him;  but  if  he  carries  his 
slave  into  a  free  State,  the  law  makes  him  free." 

Mr.  Butler,  interrupting  him,  said:  "Yes,  but  they  won't 
stay  with  you ;  they  love  us  so  well  they  will  run  off,  and  come 
back,  in  spite  of  you  and  your  boasted  freedom." 

Mr.  Wade  smilingly  replied,  amid  roars  of  laughter :  "  Oh, 
yes,  Senator,  I  know  they  love  you  so  well,  you  have  to  make  a 
Fugitive  Slave  law  to  catch  them." 

The  southern  men,  having  tried  in  vain  to  head  off  Mr. 
Wade,  appealed  to  their  northern  allies  to  help  them.  One 
day  Mr.  Douglas  rose  in  his  seat,  and  interrupted  Mr.  Wade, 
who  was  speaking.  Instantly  the  chamber  became  silent  as 
death,  and  all  eyes  were  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  two 
standing  Senators.  Every  one  expected  to  see  Wade  demolished 
in  a  moment,  by  the  great  Illinois  Senator. 

"  You,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Douglas,  in  measured  tones,  "  continually 
compliment  southern  men  who  support  this  bill  (Nebraska), 
but  bitterly  denounce  northern  men  who  support  it.  Why  is 
this  ?  You  say  it  is  a  moral  wrong ;  you  say  it  is  a  crime.  If 
that  be  so,  is  it  not  as  much  a  crime  for  a  southern  .man  to 
support  it,  as  for  a  northern  man  to  do  so  ?" 

Mr.  Wade.— "No,  sir,  I  say  not." 


HON.   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN   WADE. 

Mr.  Douglas. — "  The  Senator  says  not.  Then  he  entertains  a 
different  code  of  morals  from  myself,  and — " 

Mr.  Wade  interrupting  Douglas,  and  pointing  to  him,  with 
scorn  marked  on  every  lineament  of  his  face,  "  Your  code  of 
morals !  Your  morals ! !  My  God,  I  hope  so,  sir." 

The  giant  was  hit  in  the  forehead,  and  after  standing  for  a 
moment  with  his  face  red  as  scarlet,  dropped  silently  into  his 
seat,  while  Mr.  Wade  proceeded  with  his  speech  as  quietly  as 
though  nothing  had  occurred. 

Mr.  Douglas  was  angry,  however,  and  closely  watched  Wade 
for  a  chance  to  pounce  upon  and  scalp  him.  It  soon  occurred, 
and  in  this  way:  Mr.  Wade  had  said  something  complimentary 
about  Colonel  Lane,  of  Kansas,  when  Mr.  Douglas  rose  and 
said :  "  Colonel  Lane  cannot  be  believed — he  has  been  guilty  of 
perjury  and  forgery." 

Mr.  Wade. — "  And  what  proof,  sir,  have  you  of  these  allega- 
tions ?  Your  unsupported  word  is  not  sufficient." 

Mr.  Douglas. — "I  have  the  affidavit  of  Colonel  Lane,  in 
which,  some  time  since,  he  swore  one  thing,  and  now  states 
another." 

Mr.  Wade. — "  And  you,  sir,  a  lawyer,  presume  to  charge  this 
man  with  being  guilty  of  forgery  and  perjury,  and  then  offer 
him  as  a  witness  to  prove  your  own  word." 

Douglas  saw  in  a  moment  he  was  hopelessly  caught,  and 
attempted  to  retreat,  but  Wade  pounced  upon  him  and  gave 
him  a  withering  rebuke,  while  the  chamber  shook  with  roars  of 
laughter.  Such  scenes  have  to  be  witnessed  to  fully  understand 
them,  as  there  is  as  much  in  the  exhibition  as  in  the  words. 

Mr.  Douglas  continued  to  badger  Wade,  sometimes  getting 
the  better  of  him,  but  often  getting  roughly  handled,  until 
Wade,  worn  out  with  defending  himself,  determined  to  become 
the  attacking  party.  Soon  afterward,  the  "  Little  Giant "  was 


250  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

bewailing  the  fate  of  the  nation,  and  picturing  the  sad  condition 
it  would  be  in  if  the  Free  Soilers  succeeded.  Having  worked 
himself  up  into  a  passion,  when  he  was  at  the  highest  pitch,  Mr. 
Wade  rose  in  his  seat  and  said,  with  indescribable  coolness, 
"Well,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?"  Douglas,  for  a 
moment,  was  surprised  and  dumbfounded,  and  then  attempted  to 
proceed ;  but  the  pith  was  knocked  out  of  his  argument,  and  the 
Senators  only  smiled  at  his  earnestness,  and  he,  at  last,  sat  down 
in  disgust. 

Mr.  Douglas  afterward  said,  "  That  interrogatory  of  Wade's 
was  the  most  effective  speech  I  ever  heard  in  the  Senate.  Con- 
found the  man;  it  was  so  ridiculous,  and  put  so  comically,  I 
knew  not  what  answer  to  make  him,  and  became  ridiculous 
myself  in  not  being  able  to  tell  'what  I  was  going  to  do 
about  it.'  " 

While  the  Lecompton  bill  was  under  discussion,  Mr.  Toombs, 
of  Georgia,  referring  to  the  minority,  of  which  Mr.  Wade  was 
one,  said :  "  The  majority  have  rights  and  duties,  and  I  trust 
there  is  fidelity  enough  to  themselves  and  their  principles,  and 
to  their  country,  in  the  majority,  to  stand  together  at  all  haz- 
ards, and  crush  this  factious  minority." 

Instantly,  Mr.  Wade  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  shaking  his  fist 
at  Toombs,  roared  out :  "  Have  a  care,  sir ;  have  a  care.  You 
can't  crush  me  nor  my  people.  You  can  never  conquer  us ,  we 
will  die  first.  I  may  fall  here  in  the  Senate  chamber,  but  I  will 
never  make  any  compromise  with  any  such  men.  You  may 
bring  a  majority  and  out- vote  me,  but,  so  help  me  God,  I  will 
neither  compromise  or  be  crushed.  That's  what  I  have  to  say 
to  your  threat." 

A  southern  Senator  one  day  said,  roughly,  to  Wade,  "  If  you 
don't  stop  your  abolition  doctrines,  we  will  break  up  the  Union. 
We  will  secede,  sir  I"  Wade  held  out  his  hand,  and  said,  com- 


HON.  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  WADE.  251 

ically,  "  Good-by,  Senator,  if  you  are  going  now ;  I  pray  you 
don't  delay  a  moment  on  my  account." 

Senator  Evans,  of  South  Carolina,  a  very  grave  and  good  old 
man,  one  day  was  exhibiting  in  the  Senate  chamber  and  speak- 
ing of  a  copy  of  Garrison's  Liberator,  with  its  horrible  pictures 
of  slavery.  Turning  to  Mr.  Wade,  who  sat  near  him,  he  said : 
"  Is  it  not  too  bad  that  such  a  paper  should  be  allowed  to  exist  ? 
Why  will  not  the  authorities  of  the  United  States  suppress  such 
a  slanderous  sheet  ?  Can  it  be  possible  that  any  patriotic  citizen 
of  the  North  will  tolerate  such  an  abomination?"  Senator 
Wade  put  on  his  spectacles,  and  looking  at  the  title  of  the  paper, 
exclaimed  in  surprise,  "  Why,  Senator  Evans,  in  Ohio,  we  con- 
sider this  one  of  our  best  family  papers  F'  The  Senators  roared ; 
but  Mr.  Evans,  who  had  a  great  respect  for  Mr.  Wade,  turned 
sadly  away,  saying,  "  I  am  sorry  to  hear  you  say  so,  Mr.  Wade ; 
it  shows  whither  we  are  drifting." 

Notwithstanding  Mr.  Wade's  bitter  opposition  to  the  slave 
power,  the  southern  men  always  respected  and  liked  him.  Mr. 
Toombs,  the  Georgia  fire-eater,  said  of  him,  in  the  Senate :  "  My 
friend  from  Ohio  puts  the  matter  squarely.  He  is  always  honest, 
outspoken  and  straightforward,  and  I  wish  to  God  the  rest  of 
you  would  imitate  him.  He  speaks  out  like  a  man.  He  says 
what  is  the  difference,  and  it  is.  He  means  what  he  says ;  you 
don't  always.  He  and  I  can  agree  about  every  thing  on  earth 
except  our  sable  population." 

There  was  not  a  northern  demagogue  in  Congress  who  would 
not  have  given  gladly  all  his  ill-gotten  reputation  to  have  had 
such  a  compliment  paid  him  by  a  southern  Senator  as  was  paid 
by  Mr.  Toombs  to  Senator  Wade. 

In  the  debates  on  the  organization  of  Kansas  as  a  State,  Mr. 
Wade  avowed  himself  a  Kepublican— -a  Black  Eepublican,  if 
they  chose  to  call  him  so— and  as  determined  in  his  opposition 


252  MEN"   OF   OUR   DAY. 

to  slavery  extension,  under  all  circumstances  and  at  all  times. 
In  the  course  of  one  of  the  speeches  he  made  on  that  question, 
he  made  use  of  the  following  language : 

"  Sir,  I  am  no  sycophant  or  worshipper  of  power  anywhere.  1 
know  how  easy  it  is  for  some  minds  to  glide  along  with  the  cur- 
rent of  popular  opinion,  where  influence,  respectability,  and  all 
those  motives  which  tend  to  seduce  the  human  heart  are  brought 
to  bear.  I  am  not  unconscious  of  the  persuasive  power  exerted 
by  these  considerations  to  drag  men  along  in  the  current ;  but  I 
am  not  at  liberty  to  travel  that  road.  I  am  not  unaware  how 
unpopular  on  this  floor  are  the  sentiments  I  am  about  to  advo- 
cate. I  well  understand  the  epithets  to  which  they  subject  their 
supporters.  Every  man  who  has  been  in  this  hall  for  one  hour 
knows  the  difference  between  him  who  comes  here  as  the  de- 
fender and  supporter  of  th'e  rights  of  human  nature,  and  him 
who  comes  as  the  vile  sycophant  and  flatterer  of  those  in  power. 
I  know  that  the  one  road  is  easy  to  travel ;  the  other  is  hard, 
and  at  this  time  perilous.  But,  sir,  I  shall  take  the  path  of  duty 
and  shall  not  swerve  from  it. 

"  I  am  amazed  at  the  facility  with  which  some  men  follow  in 
the  wake  of  slavery.  Sometimes  it  leads  me  even  to  hesitate 
whether  I  am  strictly  correct  in  my  idea  that  all  men  are  born 
to  equal  rights,  for  their  conduct  seems  to  me  to  contravene  the 
doctrine.  I  see  in  some  men  an  abjectness,  a  want  of  that  manly 
independence  which  enables  a  man  to  rely  on  himself  and  face 
the  world  on  his  own  principles,  that  I  don't  know  but  that  I  am 
wrong  in  advocating  universal  liberty.  I  wish  to  heaven  all 
such  were  of  the  African  race."  . 

The  brutal  and  cowardly  attack  on  Hon.  Charles  Sumner  by 
Preston  S.  Brooks,  in  May,  1856,  called  out  all  the  grand  and 
heroic  elements  of  Mr.  "Wade's  nature.  Others  might  hesitate 
and  fear  to  enter  upon  the  discussion  of  the  question  of  slavery, 
when  its  advocates  resorted  to  the  bludgeon  and  pistol  as  their 
reply  to  the  arguments  of  the  anti-slavery  men ;  but  it  was  not 
in  Ben  Wade  to  falter.  On  the  next  day  after  the  outrage  he 


HON.   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN   WADE.  253 

rose  and  commenced  his  speech  in  denunciation  of  the  atrocious 
deed,  with  these  memorable  words : 

"  Mr.  President,  if  the  hour  has  arrived  in  the  history  of  this 
Republic  when  its  Senators  are  to  be  sacrificed  and  pay  the  for- 
feit of  their  lives  for  opinions'  sake,  I  know  of  no  fitter  place  to 
die  than  in  this  chamber,  with  our  Senate  robes  around  us ;  and 
here,  if  necessary,  I  shall  die  at  my  post,  and  in  my  place,  for  the 
liberty  of  debate  and  free  discussion." 

The  southern  men  writhed,  as  if  in  pain,  as  his  scathing  words 
fell  hot  and  heavy  upon  them,  portraying  the  cowardice,  the 
meanness,  the  infamy  of  the  deed,  and  it  required  a  brow  of 
brass  to  stand  up  in  defence  of  it,  after  this  severe  yet  dignified 
denunciation  of  the  assault. 

During  the  war,  Senator  Wade  was  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  untiring  members  of  the  Senate.  He  was  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Territories,  and  also  of  the  special  Committee  on 
the  Conduct  of  the  War,  a  committee  whose  services  were  of  the 
greatest  value  to  the  national  cause. 

Ohio  has  wisely  kept  him  in  the  Senate  for  three  successive 
terms,  the  last  of  which  will  end  March  4,  1869.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  March,  1867,  the  term  of  office  of  Hon.  Lafayette  S. 
Foster,  President  pro  tern  of  the  Senate,  and  acting  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  having  expired,  Mr.  Wade  was  elected 
by  the  Senate  as  their  presiding  officer,  a  position  for  which  his 
large  experience,  thorough  political  and  parliamentary  know- 
ledge, and  fearless  independence,  eminently  fitted  him.  During 
the  impeachment  trial,  he,  according  to  the  Constitution,  resigned 
the  chair  to  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  preside  in  such  a  trial,  and  it  was  the  understanding 
that,  in  case  of  the  President's  conviction,  Mr.  Wade  would  suc- 
ceed to  the  presidential  chair. 

In  person,  Mr.  Wade  is  about  five  feet  eight  inches  in  height, 


254  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

stout,  and  of  dark  but  clear  complexion.  His  eyes  are  small, 
jet  black  and  deeply  cut,  and  when  roused,  they  shine  like  coals 
of  fire.  He  is  slightly  stooped,  but  walks  without  a  cane,  and 
is  sprightly  and  active.  His  jaws  are  firm  and  large,  the  under 
one  being  very  strong  and  compact.  The  lips  are  full  and  round, 
the  upper  one  doubling,  at  the  corners  of  his  mouth,  over  the 
lower  one,  which  gives  the  Senator  a  ferocious  and  savage  sort 
of  look ;  and  this  it  is  that  causes  so  many  persons  to  misunder- 
stand the  true  character  of  the  man,  and  mistake  him  for  a  fierce, 
hard,  cold  man,  when  he  is,  in  reality,  one  of  the  warmest, 
kindest-hearted  men  in  the  world.  His  face  is  not  a  handsome 
one,  and  if  you  examine  it  in  detail,  you  will  say  he  is  an  ugly 
man ;  and  yet  there  is  in  that  face  a  sort  of  rough  harmony,  an 
honest,  bluff,  heartiness  that  makes  you  like  it.  There  is  nothing 
weak,  bad,  or  treacherous-looking  about  it ;  and  when  he  speaks 
the  features  light  up,  and  the  mobilized  countenance  gives  to 
the  straightforward  words  such  an  interest  that  you  no  longer 
remember  his  homeliness  at  all.  When  sitting  silent  or  listen- 
ing, he  has  a  way  of  looking  at  one  with  his  piercing  black  eyes 
that  at  once  disconcerts  a  rascal  or  dishonest  man,  and  is  often 
most  annoying  to  the  innocent  and  honest.  You  feel  he  is  read- 
ing you  and  weighing  closely  your  motives  for  what  you  are 
saying.  There  is  no  use  in  trying  to  deceive  or  lie  to  old  Ben. 
"Wade ;  if  he  don't  find  you  out  and  hint  at  your  motives  before 
you  leave,  rest  assured  he  understands  you,  and  only  keeps  his 
belief  to  himself,  because  he  does  not  desire  to  wound  your 
feelings. 

We  do  not  think  Mr.  Wade  ever  owned  such  a  thing  as  a 
finger-ring  or  breast-pin.  He  dresses  in  plain  black,  and  wears 
a  standing- collar  of  the  old  style,  and  is  always  scrupulously 
clean.  Always  talkative  and  lively  when  out  of  his  seat,  he  is 
gilent,  grave  and  thoughtful  when  in  the  Senate  chamber.  Any 


HON.  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  WADE.  255 

one  who  looks  at  him  from  the  galleries,  as  he  sits  daily  in  the 
Yice-President's  chair,  presiding  over  the  deliberations  of  the 
highest  tribunal  in  the  land,  will  see  in  his  quiet  repose  a  pic- 
ture of  real  strength  "and  dignity  such  as  should  characterize  the 
American  Senator. 

As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Territories,  he  reported 
the  first  provision  prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  to  be  subsequently  acquired ;  the  bill  for  negro 
suffrage  in  the  District  of  Columbia ;  carried  the  homestead  bill 
through  the  Senate ;  led  the  Senate  in  the  division  of  Virginia 
and  the  formation  of  the  new  State  of  "West  Virginia;  and 
secured  the  admission  of  Nevada  and  Colorado  into  the  Union. 

On  one  point  only  did  he  differ  from  Mr.  Lincoln,  viz. :  his 
proposed  reconstruction  policy;  and  the  difference  was  for  a 
time  strong  and  decided ;  but,  in  the  end,  Mr.  Lincoln  acknow- 
ledged that  that  was  the  great  error  of  his  life,  and  receded  from 
the  measures  he  had  proposed. 


HON.    SCHUYLER   COLFAX, 

SPEAKER    OF    THE    HOUSE    OF    REPRESENTATIVES. 


[N  the  life  history  of  this  eminent  statesman,  so  widely 
known  and  so  universally  beloved,  we  have  another  of 
those  instances  of  which  we  have  had  so  many  in  thia 
volume,  of  a  man  rising  by  the  power  of  genius  and 
industry  from  humble  life,  and  filling  exalted  stations  with  a 
grace,  ease,  and  dignity,  which  could  not  be  surpassed  had  he 
been  "to  the  manor  born." 

SCHUYLER  COLFAX  comes  from  some  of  our  best  revolution- 
ary stock.  His  grandfather,  Captain  Colfax,  was  the  command- 
ant of  General  Washington's  body-guard ;  his  grandmother  was 
a  near  kinswoman  of  that  noble  patriot  of  the  Kevolution., 
Major-General  Philip  Schuyler.  He  was  born  in  New  York 
city,  March  23d,  1823,  his  father  having  died  in  early  manhood, 
a  short  time  before  his  birth.  When  he  was  ten  years  old,  his 
mother  married  again,  becoming  the  "  Mrs.  Matthews,"  whom 
all  recent  habitues  of  Washington  have  seen  presiding  at  her 
son's  receptions.  With  this  event  the  boy's  school  life  closed, 
but  the  scanty  term  seems  to  have  been  well  improved,  for  one 
of  his  early  schoolmates  tells  us  "  Schuyler  always  stood  at  the 
head  of  his  class."  The  next  three  years  were  spent  in  his  step- 
father's store.  In  1836,  his  stepfather  having  decided  to  emi- 
256 


HON.   SCHUYLER   COLFAX.  257 

grate  to  the  west,  Schuyler  accompanied  his  parents  to  the 
valley  of  the  St.  Joseph  river,  and  they  settled  in  New  Carlisle, 
St.  Joseph  county,  Indiana.  The  region  was  then  a  wilderness, 
but  it  is  now  densely  populated,  and  its  thrift,  fertility,  enterprise 
and  beauty  have  made  it  the  garden  of  the  State.  The  five 
years  which  followed,  were,  we  believe,  spent  as  clerk  in  a 
country  store.  His  disposition  to  study  was  inbred,  and  every 
leisure  moment  was  improved.  A  friend  and  companion  of  his 
boyhood,  in  New  York,  now  an  active  business  man  and 
philanthropist,  tells  us  that,  in  those  days,  he  and  Schuyler 
Colfax  kept  up  an  active  correspondence,  and  that  Schuyler's 
letters  always  spoke  of  the  studies  he  was  prosecuting  by  him- 
self in  the  wilderness,  and  were  full  of  knotty  questions,  which 
both  tried  their  best  to  solve. 

In  1841,  his  stepfather,  Mr.  Matthews,  was  elected  county 
auditor,  and  removed  to  South  Bend.  Schuyler  became  his 
deputy,  and  made  such  studious  use  of  his  leisure,  that  when 
but  little  more  than  eighteen,  he  became  undisputed  authority 
on  precedents,  usage,  and  State  laws  affecting  the  auditor's  duties. 
He  was  also  very  busily  engaged  in  the  study  of  law  at  this 
time.  A  debating  society,  that  inevitable  necessity  of  American 
village  life,  was  organized  at  South  Bend  in  1843,  and,  on  some 
one's  suggestion,  it  was  transferred  into  a  moot  State  Legis- 
ture,  of  which  Hon.  J.  D.  Defrees,  since  government  printer, 
was  speaker,  and  young  Colfax  an  active  member.  The  rules 
of  parliamentary  debate,  and  the  decisions  of  points  of  order, 
were  followed  with  amusing  punctiliousness  in  this  body,  and 
Colfax,  who  had  improved  his  previous  familiarity  with  these 
matters,  by  two  years'  service  as  Senate  reporter  for  the  State 
Journal,  soon  became  the  acknowledged  authority  on  all 
parliamentary  questions,  and  was  thus  unconsciously  qualifying 

himself  for  that  post  he  has  since  so  ably  filled. 
17 


258  MEN   OF   OUB  DAY. 

In  1845,  he  started  a  weekly  journal  at  South  Bend,  the 
county  seat,  with  the  title  of  the  St.  Joseph  Valley  Register,  be- 
coming its  sole  proprietor  and  editor.  In  this  connection  it  is 
doubtless  proper  to  correct  a  mistake  into  which  the  public  has 
fallen  relative  to  Mr.  Colfax's  connection  with  the  printing  busi- 
ness. Mr.  Lanman,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Congress,  says : — "  He 
was  bred  a  printer."  He  never  was  apprenticed  to  the  printing 
business,  and  knew  nothing  of  the  practical  part  of  the  "  art  pre- 
servative of  all  arts,"  until  after  he  had  commenced  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Register.  With  his  ready  tact  and  quick  perception, 
however,  and  great  anxiety  to  economise,  for  his  means  were  yet 
very  limited,  he  soon  mastered  the  art  sufficiently  to  "  help  out 
of  the  drag  ;"  but  he  never  attained  to  any  great  proficiency  in 
the  business ;  his  editorial  labors,  the  business  of  the  office,  and 
other  duties,  soon  claiming  his  entire  attention. 

The  Register  prospered,  and  soon  became  a  source  of  profit  to 
its  proprietor.  It  was  ably  edited,  and  was  a  model  of  courtesy 
and  dignity.  Every  paragraph,  however  small,  seemed  to  have 
passed  under  the  supervision,  and  to  reflect  the  mind  and  ele- 
vated thoughts  of  its  editor. 

How  he  toiled  at  this  time,  and  what  was  the  opinion  of  the 
people  of  South  Bend  of  the  young  editor,  are  very  pleasantly 
related  by  Mr.  Samuel  Wilkeson,  in  a  speech  at  a  press  dinner, 
in  Washington,  in  1865,  at  which  Mr.  Colfax  was  an  honored 
guest. 

"  Eighteen  years  ago,  at  one  o'clock  of  a  winter  moon-lighted 
morning,  while  the  horses  of  the  stage-coach  in  which  I  was 
plowing  the  thick  mud  of  Indiana,  were  being  changed  at  the 
tavern  in  South  Bend,  as  I  walked  the  footway  of  the  principal 
street  to  shake  off  a  great  weariness,  I  saw  a  light  through  a 
window.  A  sign,  '  The.  Register?  was  legible  above  it,  and  I  saw 
through  the  window  a  man  in  his  shirt  sleeves  walking  quickly 


HOIST.   SCHUYLEK   COLFAX.  259 

about  like  one  that  worked.  I  paused,  and  looked,  and 
imagined  about  the  man,  and  about  his  work,  and  about  the 
lateness  of  the  hour  to  which  it  was  protracted ;  and  I  wondered 
if  he  was  in  debt,  and  was  struggling  to  get  out,  and  if  his  wife 
was  expecting  him,  and  had  lighted  a  new  candle  for  his  coming, 
and  if  he  was  very  tired.  A  coming  step  interrupted  this  idle 
dreaming.  When  the  walker  reached  my  side,  I  joined  him, 
and  as  we  went  on  I  asked  him  questions,  and  naturally  they  were 
about  the  workman  in  the  shirt  sleeves.  '  What  sort  of  a  man 
is  he  ?'  '  He  is  very  good  to  the  poor ;  he  works  hard ;  he  is 
sociable  with  all  people ;  he  pays  his  debts ;  he  is  a  safe  adviser ; 
he  doesn't  drink  whisky ;  folks  depend  on  him ;  all  this  part  of 
Indiana  believes  in  him.'  From  that  day  to  this,  I  have  never 
taken  up  the  South  Bend  Register  without  thinking  of  this 
eulogy,  and  envying  the  man  who  had  justly  entitled  himself  to 
it  in  the  dawn  of  his  manhood." 

Mr.  Colfax  himself,  in  his  reply  to  this  speech,  acknowledged 
that  in  the  early  history  of  the  newspaper,  which  numbered  but 
two  hundred  and  fifty  subscribers  when  he  established  it,  he 
was  often  compelled  to  labof  far  into  the  hours  of  the  night. 
His  paper  was,  from  the  first,  Whig  in  its  politics,  and  frank  and 
outspoken  in  its  expression  of  opinion  on  all  political  questions, 
but  though  in  a  district  then  strongly  Democratic,  and  sur- 
rounded by  Democratic  papers  which  waged  a  constant,  and  often 
unscrupulous  warfare  against  his  paper  and  his  principles,  the 
constant  readers  of  his  paper  cannot  recall  a  single  harsh  or 
intemperate  expression  in  his  columns,  in  reply  to  the  fierce 
personal  attacks  made  upon  him. 

In  the  year  1848,  Mr.  Colfax  was  appointed  a  delegate  from 
his  adopted  State  to  the  Whig  National  Convention,  of  which 
he  was  elected  secretary,  and  although  extremely  young,  he 
discharged  the  functions  of  his  office  commendably.  In  1850, 


260  MEN   OF   OUE   DAY. 

lie  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Indiana  State  Convention,  hav> 
ing  for  its  object  the  preparation  of  a  State  Constitution.  Here 
he  persistently  opposed  the  unmanly  clause  prohibiting  free 
colored  men  from  entering  the  State.  This  clause,  submitted 
separately  to  the  people,  was  indorsed  by  majorities  of  eight 
thousand  in  his  district'  and  ninety  thousand  in  the  State,  yet, 
where  a  mere  political  trimmer  would  have  waived  the  personal 
issue,  he,  like  a  man,  openly  voted  with  the  minority,  though  he 
was  at  the  time  a  candidate  for  Congress.  In  1851,  unanimously 
nominated  from  the  ninth  district  of  Indiana,  he  made  a  joint 
canvass  with  his  opponent,  Dr.  Fitch,  and,  solely  on  account  of 
this  vote,  was  defeated  by  two  hundred  and  sixteen  majority, 
although  the  district  had  been  Democratic,  by  large  majorities, 
for  many  years. 

In  1852,  he  was  again  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the  Whig- 
National  Convention,  of  which  also  he  was  appointed  secretary. 
In  1854,  Mr.  Colfax  was  elected  to  Congress  as  a  Eepublican 
nominee ;  and  from  that  time  to  the  present,  he  has  always  occu- 
pied his  seat  as  a  Representative. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Thirty -fourth  Congress  occurred  the 
memorable  contest  for  the  speakership,  resulting  in  the  election 
of  Mr.  Banks  to  that  position.  During  that  session  Mr.  Coifax 
took  his  stand  as  one  of  the  most  promising  of  our  Congres- 
sional debaters.  His  speech,  upon  the  then  all-absorbing  topic"  of 
the  extension  of  slavery  and  the  aggressions  of  the  slave  power, 
was  a  masterly  effort,  and  stamped  him  at  once  as  a  most  influ- 
ential orator.  This  speech  was  circulated  throughout  the  coun- 
try at  the  time,  and  was  used  as  a  campaign  document  by  the 
Fremont  party  during  the  canvass  of  1856.  Five  hundred 
thousand  copies  of  it  were  issued,  a  compliment  perhaps  never 
before  received  by  any  member  of  Congress. 

Mr.  Colfax  labored  zealously  for  John  C.  Fremont,  who  wag 


HON.   SCHUYLER   COLFAX.  261 

his  personal  friend :  the  result  of  that  campaign  is  well  known. 
In  the  Thirty-fifth  Congress,  Mr.  Colfax  was  elected  to  the  im- 
portant position  of  Chairman  to  the  Committee  on  Post  Offices 
and  Post  Eoads,  \vhich  place  he  continued  to  hold  until  his  elec- 
tion as  Speaker  to  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress,  on  the  7th  of 
December,  1853,  to  which  responsible  position  he  has  since  been 
twice  re-elected — to  the  Thirty-ninth  and  Fortieth  Congresses — 
honors  awarded  before  only  to  Henry  Clay. 

As  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  he  is  ready, 
seldom  hesitating,  to  replace  a  wosd,  or  failing  to  touch  the  quick 
of  a  question,  never  employing  any  thing  for  stage  effect ;  but 
straightforward,  direct,  and  often  exquisitely  elegant  in  image 
and  diction,  he  is,  in  the  genuine  sense,  eloquent.  His  every 
speech  is  a  success,  and  though  one  often  wonders  how  he  will 
extricate  himself,  in  the  varied  and  often  untimely  calls  made 
upon  his  treasury,  he  always  closes  with  added  wealth  of  grati- 
fied admirers.  If  George  Canning  was  once  the  Cicero  of  the 
British  Senate,  Schuyler  Colfax  is  to-day  that  of  the  American 
House. 

In  the  chair,  he  is  suave  and  forbearing  almost  to  excess,  but 
as  impartial  as  the  opposite  Congressional  clock.  Nothing 
escapes  him,  nothing  nonplusses  him.  The  marvel  of  his  pre- 
siding watchfulness  is  equaled  alone  by  the  intuitive,  rapid  solu- 
tion of  the  knotty  point  suddenly  prese'nted,  and  having  either 
no  precedent,  or,  at  best,  but  a  very  distant  one.  In  every  quan- 
dary, the  Indiana  Legislature,  or  the  Journal  reporter,  or  the 
persistent  student  of  Jefferson  or  Gushing,  or  all,  rally  to  the 
rescue  of  the  wondering  House  and  still  smiling  chairman.  The 
advocate  is  never  confused  with  the  judge.  While  presiding, 
it  is  as  difficult  to  remember,  as  when  debating  to  forget,  that 
he  is  radically  a  Eadical. 

He  was  one  of  the  first  advocates,  and  is  still  one  of  the 


262  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

warmest  friends,  of  the  Pacific  railroad.  Indeed,  he  takes  a 
warm  interest  in  any  movement  looking  to  the  development  of 
the  boundless  resources  of  the  great  "West.  It  was,  doubtless, 
the  interest  he  feels  in  this  section  of  the  country,  which  induced 
him  to  take  his  celebrated  journey  "  Across  the  Continent."  His 
trip  was  a  perilous  one,  but  his  welcome  at  "  the  other  end  of  the 
line  "  was  so  spontaneous,  truly  genuine  and  heartfelt,  that  it 
more  than  repaid  him  for  all  the  dangers  and  hardships  he  passed 
through.  This  tour  led  him  to  prepare  one  of  the  most  enter- 
taining lectures  ever  delivered  in  this  country.  It  has  been  lis- 
tened to  with  rapt  attention  by  the  people  of  almost  every  city 
in  the  North.  Pecuniarily,  however,  it  has  profited  him  but 
little,  for  with  that  liberality  which  has  ever  been  a  marked  trait 
in  his  character,  the  entire  proceeds  of  a  lecture  have  as  often 
been  donated  to  some  charitable  object  as  they  have  found  their 
way  into  his  own  pocket. 

His  intimacy  and  confidential  relations  with  Mr.  Lincoln  are 
well  known.  They  labored  hand  in  hand  as  brothers  in  the 
cause  of  the  Union,  holding  frequent  and  protracted  interviews 
on  all  subjects  looking  to  the  overthrow  of  the  rebellion,  for 
there  were  no  divisions  between  the  executive  and  legislative 
branches  of  the  Government,  then,  as  there  are  now.  There  was 
a  patriot  at  the  head  of  the  Government  then — a  statesman  who 
could  give  counsel,  but  often  needed  it  as  well.  During'  the 
darkest  hours  of  that  bloody  drama  which  shall  ever  remain  a 
reproach  upon  the  people  of  one  section  of  the  nation,  they  were 
ever  cheerful  and  hopeful.  Confident  in  the  justness  of  the  war 
waged  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  placing  a  Christian 
reliance  in  that  Providence  which  guides  and  shapes  the  destiny 
of  nations,  great  reverses,  which  caused  others  to  fear  and  trem- 
ble, at  times  almost  to  despair,  seemed  only  to  inspire  them  with 


HON.   SCHUYLER   COLFAX.  263 

greater  zeal  and  a  firmer  belief  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  our 
cause. 

There  has  not  been  a  great  radical  measure  before  the  country, 
since  his  advent  into  Congress,  that  he  has  not  supported  with 
all  the  warmth  of  his  ardent  nature.  But  he  is  not  one  who 
will  rush  blindly  forward  into  a  pitfall.  He  would  rather  make 
haste  slowly,  that  no  backward  step  may  be  necessary — he  duly 
weigh,  every  measure  in  all  its  bearings,  and  from  its  various 
standpoints,  before  committing  himself  irrevocably  to  any  par- 
ticular line  of  action  relative  to  the  subjects  under  considera- 
tion. Previous  to  his  ref-election  as  speaker  of  the  Thirty-ninth 
Congress,  in  response  to  a  serenade  tendered  him,  he  said : 

"  The  danger  is  in  too  much  precipitation.  Let  us,  rather,  make 
haste  slowly,  and  then  we  can  hope  that  the  foundation  of  our 
Government,  when  thus  reconstructed  on  the  basis  of  indisputa- 
ble loyalty,  will  be  as  eternal  as  the  stars." 

Had  this  warning  been  heeded,  much  of  the  legislation  of  the 
Thirty-ninth  Congress  would  have  needed  no  revision  at  the 
hands  of  the  one  which  has  succeeded  it. 

His  course,  while  in  the  great  council  of  the  nation,  has  been 
one  of  straightforward,  unswerving  integrity;  and  he  counts 
many  friends  among  even  his  political  opponents.  He  has  so 
discharged  the  important  duties  of  the  speakership,  that  he  is 
considered  one  of  the  best  presiding  officers  that  has  ever  been 
called  upon  to  conduct  the  proceedings  of  a«great  body. 

Mr.  Colfax  is  only  forty-five  years  of  age.  In  personal  ap- 
pearance, he  is  of  medium  height,  solid  and  compactly  built. 
His  hair  and  whiskers  are  brown,  now  a  little  tinged  with  gray. 
His  countenance  has  a  pleasing  and  intellectual  expression.  His 
person  is  graceful,  and  his  manner  denotes  unusual  energy.  His 
eyebrows  are  light  in  color,  and  overshadow  eyes  which  sparkle 
with  intelligence  and  good-humor.  He  is  strongly  affectionate 


264  MEN  OF   OUR   DAY. 

and  kindly  in  disposition.  Whenever  his  mother-in-law  appears 
in  the  gallery  of  the  House,  Mr.  Colfax  generally  calls  some 
member  to  the  chair,  and  goes  immediately  to  her  side.  Such  a 
trait  in  his  character  serves  still  further  to  deepen  the  respect 
and  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  everywhere. 

As  a  speaker,  Mr.  Colfax  is  earnest,  frank,  pointed  and  fluent. 
His  manner  is  pleasing,  and  his  language  is  always  well-chosen 
and  refined.  Urbane  in  demeanor,  and  courteous  and  fair  to- 
ward opponents,  he  always  commands  respect  and  attention  on 
both  sides  of  the  House.  He  is  zealous  and  fearless  in  main- 
taining his  principles,  though  his  benevolence  and  good-humor 
so  temper  his  speeches  that  he  gains  few  or  no  enemies.  He  is 
one  of  the  few  whose  personal  qualities  have  secured  exemption 
from  the  bitterness  of  feeling  generally  displayed  by  the  friends 
of  pro-slavery  aggression  toward  their  opponents.  He  seldom 
indulges  in  oratorical  flourish,  but  goes  straight  to  his  subject, 
which,  with  his  keenly  perceptive  intellect,  he  penetrates  to  the 
bottom ;  while  his  close,  logical  reasoning  presents  his  aspect  of 
a  question  in  its  strongest  light. 

On  the  question,  "  Shall  freedmen  be  citizens,  and  be  allowed 
the  right  of  suffrage  ?"  he  took  an  early  opportunity  of  avowing 
his  views.  At  the  opening  of  the  second  session  of  the  Thirty- 
ninth  Congress,  he  said :  "  The  Creator  is  leading  us  in  his  own 
way  rather  than  our  own.  He  has  put  all  men  on  an  equality 
before  Divine  law,*  and  demands  that  we  shall  put  all  men  upon 
the  same  equality  before  human  law." 

In  an  address  delivered  in  1867,  before  the  Union  League 
club  of  New  York,  we  find  these  eloquent  passages : — 

"  How  rapidly  and  yet  how  gloriously  we  are  making  history  ; 
Dut  posterity  will  read  it  on  the  open  pages  of  our  country's  an- 
nals. Six  years  ago — how  brief  it  seems — but  a  fraction  of  an 
individual's  life— but  a  breath  in  the  life  of  a  nation— the  banners 


HOX.   SCHUYLER   COLFAX  265 

of  rebellion  waved  over  the  hostile  armies  and  stolen  forts  from 
the  Potomac  to  the  Kio  Grande,  and  the  on  looking  world 
predicted  the  certain  downfall  of  the  Kepublic.  Now,  thanks 
to  our  gallant  armies  and  their  gallant  commanders — Grant  the 
inflexible— Sherman  the  conqueror — Sheridan  the  invincible — 
and  all  their  compatriots  on  sea  and  shore — but  one  flag  waves 
over  the  land — the  flag  that  Washington  loved,  and  that  Jack- 
son, and  Scott,  and  Taylor  adorned  with  their  brilliant  victories 
— the  flag  dearer  to  us  in  all  its  hours  of  peril  than  when  gilded 
by  the  sunshine  of  prosperity  and  fanned  by  the  zephyrs  of 
peace,  at  last  triumphant,  unquestioned,  unassailed.  Six  years 
ago,  millions  of  human  beings  born  on  American  soil,  created 
by  the  same  Divine  Father,  destined  to  the  same  eternal  here- 
after, were  subject  to  sale  like  the  swine  of  the  sty,  or  the  beasts 
of  the  field,  and  our  escutcheon  was  dimmed  and  dishonored 
by  the  stain  of  American  Slavery.  To-day,  auction-blocks,  and 
manacles,  and  whipping-posts  are,  thank  God,  things  of  the 
past,  while  the  slave  himself  has  become  the  citizen,  with  the 
freedman's  weapon  of  protection — the  ballot — in  his  own  right 
hand.  Nor  can  we  forget,  while  rejoicing  over  this  happy 
contrast,  the  human  agencies  so  potential  to  its  accomplishment. 
First,  and  conspicuous  among  the  rest,  rises  before  my  mind  the 
tall  form  of  a  martyred  President,  whose  welcome  step  no 
mortal  ear  shall  ever  listen  to  again.  Faithful  to  his  oath, 
faithful  to  his  country,  faithful  to  the  brave  armies  his  word 
called  to  the  field,  he  never  swerved  a  hair's  breadth  from  his 
determination  to  crush  this  mighty  rebellion,  and  all  that  gives 
it  aid,  and  comfort,  and  support.  Unjustly  and  bitterly  de- 
nounced, by  his  enemies  and  yours,  as  a  usurper  and  despot ; 
compared  to  Nero  and  Caligula,  and  all  other  tyrants  whose 
base  deeds  blacken  the  pages  of  history,  your  noble  League 
stood  by  him  amid  this  tempest  of  detraction,  cordially  and  to 


266  MEN"   OF   OUR   DAY. 

the  end;  and  you  have  now  your  abundant  vindication  and 
reward.  Though  the  torch  of  slander  was  lit  at  every  avenue 
of  his  public  life  while  he  lived,  the  civilized  world  would 
become  mourners  at  his  coffin ;  and  with  those  libelous  tongues 
hushed,  oar  whole  land  enshrines  his  memory  to-day  with  the 

Father  of  the  Country  he  saved." 

*  ****** 

"I  cannot  doubt  the  future  of  the  great  party  which  has  won 
these  triumphs  and  established  these  principles.  It  has  been  so 
brilliantly  successful,  because  it  recognized  liberty  and  justice 
as  its  cardinal  principles ;  and  because,  scorning  all  prejudices 
and  defying  all  opprobrium,  it  allies  itself  to  the  cause  of  the 
humble  and  the  oppressed.  It  sought  to  enfranchise,  not  to 
enchain ;  to  elevate,  not  to  tread  down ;  to  protect,  never  to 
abuse.  It  cared  for  the  humblest  rather  than  for  the  mightiest 
— for  the  weakest  rather  than  the  strongest.  It  recognized 
that  the  glory  of  states  and  nations  was  justice  to  the  poorest 
and  feeblest.  And  another  secret  of  its  wondrous  strength  was 
that  it  fully  adopted  the  striking  injunction  of  our  murdered 
chief:  '  With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for  all,  but  with 
firmness  for  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right.'  Only 
last  month  the  British  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  in  defend- 
ing his  Eeform  bill,  which  holds  the  word  of  promise  to  the  ear 
to  break  it  to  the  hope,  exclaimed :  '  This  is  a  nation  of  classes, 
and  must  remain  so.'  If  I  may  be  pardoned  for  replying,  I 
would  say :  '  This  is  a  nation  of  freemen,  and  it  must  remain  so.' 
Faithful  to  the  traditions  of  our  fathers  in  sympathizing  with 
all  who  long  for  the  maintenance  or  advancement  of  liberty  in 
Mexico  or  England,  in  Ireland  or  Crete,  and  yet  carefully 
avoiding  all  entangling  alliances  or  violations  of  the  law,  with  a 
recognition  from  ocean  to  ocean,  North  and  South  alike,  of  the 
right  of  all  citizens  bound  by  the  law  to  share  in  the  choice  of 


HON.   SCHUYLEB   COLFAX.  267 

the  law-maker,  and  thus  to  have  a  voice  in  the  country  their 
heart's  blood  must  defend,  our  centennial  anniversary  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  will  find  us  as  an  entire  nation, 
recognizing  the  great  truths  of  that  immortal  Magna  Charta, 
enjoying  a  fame  wide  as  the  world  and  eternal  as  the  stars, 
with  a  prosperity  that  shall  eclipse  in  future  all  the  brightest 
glories  of  the  past." 

Eeligion  gained  the  early  adherence  of  Mr.  Colfax,  who  many 
years  ago  began  a  Christian  life,  joining  the  Dutch  Eeformed 
Church,  and  serving  humbly  and  usefully  as  a  Sunday  school 
teacher  for  twelve  years.  The  "  pious  passages"  so  frequent  in 
his  public  speeches  are  not  mere  sentiment  or  oratorical  arts, 
for  he  loves  to  talk,  in  private,  of  how  God  rules  and  how 
distinctly  and  how  often,  in  our  history,  his  holy  arm  has  been 
revealed ;  and  the  ascription  of  praise  comes  from  a  worship- 
ping heart,  reliant  on  Grod  through  Christ.  His  personal  ex- 
ample at  Washington  is  luminous.  When  twenty,  he  made 
vows  of  strict  abstinence,  which  have  never  been  broken. 
Liquors  and  wines  are  never  used  at  his  receptions,  while 
Presidential  dinners  and  diplomatic  banquets  are  utterly  power- 
less to  abate  one  jot  or  tittle  of  his  firmness.  Many  of  our 
readers  well  remember  his  speech  at  a  Congressional  temper- 
ance meeting,  and  how  he  banished  the  sale  of  liquor  from 
all  parts  of  the  Capitol  within  his  jurisdiction. 

On  the  21st  of  May,  1868,  the  National  Eepublican  Union 
Convention,  in  session  at  Chicago,  nominated  Mr.  Colfax  as 
their  candidate  for  the  vice-presidency,  on  the  fifth  ballot,  his 
name  receiving  five  hundred  and  twenty-two  votes  out  of  the 
six  hundred  and  fifty  polled. 

To  this  nomination,  all  the  people  will  doubtless  say 
"Amen." 


HON.  WILLIAM  PITT  FESSENDEN. 


JILLIAM  PITT  FESSENDEN;  for  nearly  a  year,  during 
the  war,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States, 
and  now,  as  well  as  previous  to  his  holding  that  office, 
United  States  Senator  from  Maine,  bears  the  reputation 
of  being  one  of  the  most  accomplished  scholars,  and  the  ablest 
financier  of  the  Senate.  He  was  born  in  Boscawen,  Merrimac 
county,  New  Hampshire,  October  16,  1806.  He  was  of  an  ex- 
cellent family,  his  father,  Hon.  Samuel  Fessenden,  as  well  as 
other  relatives,  having  done  the  State  good  service. 

From  early  childhood  he  was  addicted  to  study,  and  at  the 
age  of  thirteen,  entered  Bowdoin  college,  Brunswick,  Maine, 
where  he  graduated  with  higji  honors,  in  1823.  He  at  once 
turned  his  attention  to  legal  studies,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  on  attaining  his  majority  in  1827.  He  practiced  his  pro- 
fession for  two  years  in  Bridgeton,  Maine,  and  in  1829  removed 
to  Portland,  Maine,  where  he  has  since  resided.  In  1831,  he 
was  elected  to  the  Maine  Legislature,  and  though  its  youngest 
member,  he  soon  distinguished  himself,  both  as  an  orator  and  a 
legislator.  A  speech  of  his  in  this  Legislature,  in  the  discus- 
sion concerning  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  was  referred  to, 
for  years,  as  evincing  extraordinary  ability  and  eloquence. 
From  1832  to  1839,  Mr.  Fessenden  declined  all  political  office, 

and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  his  profession,  in  which  he 
268 


HON.   WILLIAM   PITT   FESSEJSTDEN".  269 

rapidly  rose  to  the  first  rank  in  his  State,  both  as  a  counsellor 
and  advocate.  He  was  offered  a  nomination  to  Congress,  as 
early  as  1831,  but  refused  it.  In  1839  he  was  again  elected  to 
the  State  Legislature,  as  a  representative  of  the  city  of  Portland. 
He  was,  as  he  had  been  from  his  first  entrance  upon  public  life, 
a  Whig,  but  such  was  the  conviction  of  his  ability,  that  though 
the  Democrats  were  largely  in  the  majority  in  the  Legislature, 
the  chairmanship  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  was  assigned  to 
him,  and  he  was,  beside,  chosen  president  of  a  special  commis- 
sion, to  revise  and  codify  the  statutes  of  the  State. 

In  1840,  he  received  the  nomination,  by  acclamation,  of  his 
party,  for  Eepresentative  in  Congress,  and  was  elected  by  a 
handsome  majority,  though  the  district  had  previously  been 
Democratic.  He  acquitted  himself  with  great  honor,  taking 
part  in  the  more  important  debates,  and  attracting  attention,  by 
the  soundness  of  his  views,  the  clearness  of  his  logic,  his  elo- 
quence and  sarcasm,  but  at  the  close  of  his  term  declined  a  re- 
nomination,  and  returned  with  new  zest  to  his  profession,  of 
which  he  seemed  never  to  weary.  He  sat  in  the  State  Legisla- 
ture in  1845  and  1846,  but  declined  any  other  public  office.  In 
1845,  the  Whigs  in  the  Legislature,  though  in  a  minority,  com- 
plimented him  with  their  vote  for  United  States  Senator.  From 
this  time  onward,  for  seven  years,  his  already  national  reputation 
in  his  profession  kept  him  constantly  and  profitably  employed. 
During  this  period  he  was  associated  with  Daniel  Webster  in 
an  important  case  before  the  Supreme  Court  at  Washington,  in- 
volving a  legal  question  never  before  discussed  in  that  court, 
viz. :  how  far  the  fraudulent  acts  of  an  auctioneer  in  selling 
property,  should  affect  the  owner  of  the  property  sold,  he  being 
no  party  to  the  fraud.  Mr.  Fessenden  had  to  contend  against 
the  weight  and  influence  of  Judge  Story's  opinion  and  decision 
against  his  client  in  the  court  below.  He  was  successful  and 


270  MEN  OF  OIJR  DAY> 

Judge  Story's  decision  was  reversed.  His  argument  on  that 
occasion  was  remarkable  for  its  logical  force  and  legal  acuteness, 
and  won  the  highest  admiration  of  the  court  and  the  eminent 
lawyers  in  attendance. 

In  1850,  Mr.  Fessenden  was  elected  to  Congress,  but  the  seat 
was  given  to  his  competitor,  through  an  error  in  the  returns, 
and  Mr.  Fessenden  declined  to  contest  it,  from  his  unwillingness 
to  serve  in  that  body,  the  nomination  having  been  forced  upon 
him,  against  his  declared  wishes.  In  1840,  he  was  a  member 
of  the  national  convention,  which  nominated  General  Harrison 
for  the  presidency ;  in  1848  of  that  which  nominated  General 
Taylor,  and  in  1852  of  the  convention  which  nominated  General 
Scott.  In  1848,  he  had  supported  Mr.  Webster,  but  in  1852, 
he  voted  against  him,  on  account  of  his  recently  declared  opin- 
ions on  the  fugitive  slave  law  compromise  and  other  topics. 
In  the  convention  of  1852,  he  was  one  of  the  sixty-seven  who 
opposed  and  voted  against  the  platform,  at  that  time  set  up  by 
the  Whig  party.  In  1853  he  was  again  elected  a  member  of  the 
State  Legislature,  and  was  chosen  United  States  Senator,  by  the 
Senate,  but  the  House,  being  Democratic,  failed  to  concur,  and 
no  Senator  was  chosen.  The  House,  however,  though  opposed 
to  him  in  politics,  associated  him  with  the  Hon.  Eeuel  Williams 
in  the  purchase  of  a  large  body  of  wild  lands  of  Massachusetts, 
lying  in  Maine,  which  was  successfully  accomplished. 

In  1854,  Mr.  Fessenden  was  again  a  member  of  the  Legislature, 
which  was  Democratic  in  both  branches.  The  Kansas-Nebraska 
question,  operating  to  produce  a  division  among  the  Demo- 
crats, Mr.  Fessenden  was  chosen  United  States  Senator  on  the 
first  ballot,  by  a  union  of  the  Whigs  and  free  soil  Democrats. 
Though  he  declined  to  be  elected  except  as  a  Whig,  this  event 
may  be  said  to  have  been  the  preliminary  step  toward  establish- 
ing the  Republican  party  in  Maine,  the  necessity  of  which  new 


HOX.   WILLIAM   PITT   FESSENDEN.  271 

organization,  after  the  action  of  the  main  body  of  southern 
Whigs  on  the  Nebraska  bill,  Mr.  Fessenden  was  one  of  the  first 
to  proclaim  and  advocate.  He  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate, 
February  23,  1854,  and  on  the  night  of  March  3,  following,  at 
which  time  the  bill  was  passed,  delivered  one  of  the  most  elec- 
tric and  effective  speeches  made  against  it.  This  effort  esta- 
blished his  reputation  at  once,  as  one  of  the  ablest  members  of 
the  Senate.  Of  his  subsequent  speeches  in  the  Senate,  during 
his  first  senatorial  term,  the  most  important  were :  on  a  bill  to 
protect  United  States  officers  (1855);  on  our  relations  with 
England ;  on  Kansas  affairs ;  on  the  president's  message  (1856) ; 
on  the  Iowa  senatorial  election  (1857) ;  and  on  the  Lecompton 
Constitution  (1858).  He  also  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
general  debates  and  business  of  the  Senate,  and  was  a  leading 
member  of  the  finance  committee.  In  1859,  he  was  re-elected 
United  States  Senator  for  six  years,  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  his 
party  in  the  Legislature,  without  the  formality  of  a  previous 
nomination,  it  being  the  first  instance  of  the  kind  in  the  history 
of  the  State.  In  the  distribution  of  committees  in  the  Senate, 
he  was  at  once  made  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Finance,  and 
of  the  Library  Committee,  and  appointed  one  of  the  Kegents  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Bowdoin  college,  his  alma  mater, 
had,  in  1858,  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  LL.  D. ;  Harvard 
university  bestowed  the  same  honor  upon  him  in  1864.  In 
1861,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  members  of  the  peace  confer- 
ence, which  met  in  February  of  that  year.  During  the  war, 
while  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Fessenden  upheld  the  national  cause 
with  great  vigor  and  ability,  and  as  chairman  of  the  finance 
committee,  aided,  so  far  as  was  in  his  power,  the  patriotic  efforts 
of  Secretary  Chase,  to  maintain  the  national  credit  and  honor. 
Owing  to  impaired  health,  he  took  a  less  active  part  in  the  sena- 


272  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

torial  debates  than  in  previous  years,  but  he  was  never  remiss 
in  attention  to  his  duties,  in  relation  to  the  finances. 

On  the  30th  of  June,  1864,  Mr.  Chase,  who  had  managed  with 
great  ability  the  financial  affairs  of  the  nation,  under  circumstan- 
ces of  extraordinary  difficulty,  resigned  his  secretaryship.  This 
resignation  created  instant  alarm,  and  gold,  which  had  stood  at 
86  premium  on  the  28th  of  June,  and  90  on  the  30th,  rose 
rapidly  until  it  reached  185  premium  on  the  llth  of  July. 
Mr.  Lincoln  nominated  Mr.  Fessenden  at  once  to  the  vacant 
secretaryship,  but  he  was  very  reluctant  to  accept  it,  both  on 
account  of  the  precarious  state  of  his  health,  which  rendered 
the  performance  of  the  duties  of  such  a  position  almost  impossi- 
ble, and  because  of  its  great  difficulties  and  fearful  responsibili- 
ties. After  some  days'  deliberation,  however,  he  yielded  to  the 
urgencies  of  the  other  Senators  and  cabinet  officers,  and  entered 
upon  his  duties  on  the  5th  of  July,  1864. 

The  situation  was  indeed  critical.  Specie  payments  had  been 
long  since  suspended,  and  with  the  increasing  emission  of  legal- 
tender  notes,  and  the  various  forms  of  loans  which  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  war  had  rendered  necessary,  the  currency  had  rapidly 
depreciated,  till,  as  we  have  said,  gold  stood,  six  days  after  Mr. 
Fessenden  accepted  office,  at  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  dol- 
lars premium,  or,  in  other  words,  the  paper  dollar  was  worth 
only  about  thirty-four  cents.  Provision  had,  indeed,  been  made 
by  Secretary  Chase  for  the  sale  of  new  loans,  the  five-twenty 
bonds  and  the  seven-thirty  treasury  notes  fundable  in  three 
years  in  the  five-twenty  bonds,  with  six  per  cent,  interest  paya- 
ble in  coin,  but  the  sale  of  these  was  as  yet  slow.  Except  Ger- 
many, Holland,  and  Switzerland,  the  foreign  markets  would  not 
deal  in  our  bonds,  and  there  was  a  general  apprehension  abroad 
of  our  national  bankruptcy.  To  this  two  causes  had  greatly 
contributed:  the  utter  worthlessness  of  the  bonds  of  the  so- 


HON.   WILLIAM    PITT   FES3EXDEN.  273 

called  Southern  Confederacy,  which  naturally,  though  unjustly, 
threw  discredit  on  our  securities ;  and  the  want  of  military  suc- 
cess, notwithstanding  the  frightful  and  rapidly  accumulating 
expenditure,  which  now  amounted  to  from  two  and  a  half  to 
three  millions  of  dollars  per  day.  The  vast  armies  in  the  field, 
and  the  great  naval  force  afloat,  could  not  be  maintained  without 
immense  resources,  and  they  could  not  be  reduced  until  the 
rebellion  was  subdued. 

For  Mr.  Fessenden,  then,  the  problems  to  be  solved  were 
these:  to  raise  promptly,  as  needed,  the  very  large  sums  of 
money  wanted  for  the  efficient  prosecution  of  the  war,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  to  enhance  the  national  credit  and  reputation  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  bonds,  treasury  and  legal-tender  notes 
should  approximate  more  nearly  to  the  value  of  coin.  With 
the  army  and  navy  well  and  promptly  paid,  and  by  the  offering 
of  bounties,  kept  up  to  the  highest  standard  of  efficiency,  it 
might  reasonably  be  hoped  that  victories  would  come,  and  a  few 
of  these  would  be  sufficient  to  finish  the  war. 
•  Mr.  Fessenden  wisely  judged  that  it  was  best  to  make  a  frank 
and  manly  appeal  to  the  nation,  whose  patriotism  had  nevei 
flagged  during  the  war,  to  subscribe  liberally  to  the  public  loans, 
and  especially  to  those  known  as  seven-thirties,  which  were  con- 
vertible, at  the  end  of  three  years,  into  six  per  cent,  five-twenty 
bonds,  the  interest  of  which  last  was  payable  in  coin.  This 
appeal,  seconded  by  the  energetic  advertising  system  of  Mr.  Jay 
Cooke,  whom  Mr.  Fessenden,  like  his  predecessor,  had  intrusted 
with  the  sale  of  the  loans,  soon  brought  a  sufficiency  of  funds 
into  the  treasury,  without  the  necessity  of  attempting  to  procure 
loans  from  abroad,  and  the  European  bankers  were  soon  eager 
to  buy  those  bonds  which  a  few  months  before  they  had  refused 
with  scorn.  He  avoided,  meanwhile,  any  farther  issue  of  legal- 
tender  notes,  or  greenbacks,  as  they  were  popularly  called,  ami, 
18 


274  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

by  conciliatory  representations,  soothed  the  irritation  of  the 
State  banking  institutions,  and  induced  them  to  adopt  the  na- 
tional system,  to  which  they  had  hitherto  been  averse.  This 
was  a  consummate  stroke  of  policy,  for  it  at  once  secured  a 
market  for  nearly  three  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  the  bonds, 
and  removed  the  State  currency  from  the  market,  substituting 
for  it  national  bank  notes,  which  were  at  par  all  over  the  coun- 
try. In  the  purchase  of  the  bonds,  too,  the  legal-tender  notes 
were  paid  into  the  treasury,  to  such  an  extent,  that  the  Govern- 
ment held  in  its  own  hands  the  power  of  reducing,  as  fast  as 
seemed  necessary,  the  volume  of  circulation. 

This  admirable  financial  management,  aided  by  the  great  suc- 
cesses of  our  arms  on  sea  and  land,  soon  enhanced  the  value  of 
the  legal-tender  currency,  and,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1865,  when 
Mr.  Fessenden  resigned  the  secretaryship,  to  return  to  the  Sen- 
ate, gold  was  at  ninety-nine  per  cent,  premium,  and  on  the  llth 
of  May  following,  had  fallen  to  thirty  per  cent. 

Another  part  of  Mr.  Fessenden's  financial  system  had  reference 
to  a  more  comprehensive  and  effective  system  of  taxation.  Con- 
gress, during  Mr.  Chase's  secretaryship,  had  hesitated  to  levy  so 
large  and  severe  taxes  as  the  emergency  demanded,  and  though 
he  had  urged  it  with  all  his  eloquence  and  ability,  they  had 
always  fallen  far  short  of  what  he  had  assured  them  was  neces 
sary.  But  when  Mr.  Fessenden,  who  had  been  one  of  them- 
selves, and  knew  all  the  objections  they  could  urge  against  rais 
ing  the  larger  part  of  the  required  revenue  by  direct  taxation, 
assured  them  that  heavy  taxes  were  indispensable,  they  came  up 
to  the  mark,  and  were  astonished  to  find  how  readily  the  people 
responded. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1865,  Mr.  Fessenden,  having  meantime 
been  re-elected  to  the  Senate  for  six  years  from  that  date,  re- 
signed his  office  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  took  his  seat 


HON.  WILLIAM   PITT   FESSEXDEN.  273 

again  in  the  Senate  chamber,  and  was  immediately  appointed 
chairman  of  the  finance  committee. 

Mr.  Fessenden  has,  since  that  time,  continued  an  active  and 
able  member  of  the  Senate,  participating  in  its  debates,  espe- 
cially on  questions  of  finance  and  reconstruction.  He  has  dif- 
fered somewhat,  though  not  radically,  from  other  members  of 
the  Eepublican  party  on  the  latter  question,  and  though  he 
speaks  with  much  of  his  former  fire  and  earnestness,  years  of 
infirm  health  have  somewhat  impaired  the  amenity  of  his  tem- 
per, and  there  is,  at  times,  a  bitterness  and  imperious  tone  in  his 
speeches,  which  not  even  his  rare  abilities  and  extensive  culture 
can  wholly  justify.* 

Yet  he  is,  withal,  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  "  men  of  our  day." 
In  wide  and  generous  scholarship,  in  profound  legal  attain- 
ments, and  in  eminent  financial  knowledge  and  capacity,  he  is 
the  peer  of  any  man  in  the  Senate.  With  the  added  grace  of  a 
kindly  and  genial  disposition,  he  might  easily  rule  all  hearts, 
and  win  for  himself  a  deathless  fame. 

*  His  action  on  the  question  of  the  conviction  of  Mr.  Johnson  in  the 
impeachment  trial,  has  disappointed  and  distressed  all  his  friends,  to  whom 
it  was  entirely  unexpected.  That  it  should  have  excited  strong  and  severe 
denunciation,  was  inevitable,  and  though  the  motives  which  influenced 
him  are  as  yet  inexplicable,  his  whole  past  history  and  his  elevated  per- 
sonal character  prohibit  the  belief  that  they  were  sordid  or  mercenary. 
It  has  been  attributed  also  to  personal  animosity,  and  to  disappointed 
ambition ;  but  we  hope  these  motives  had  as  little  weight  as  the  other. 


HON.  JAMES  HARLAN. 


ON.  JAMES  HARLAN,  late  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
and  now  United  States  Senator  from  Iowa,  was  born  in 
Clark  county,  Illinois,  August  26th,  1820.  "When  he 
was  three  years  of  age  his  parents  removed  to  Indiana, 
where  he  was  employed  during  his  minority  in  assisting  his 
father  upon  the  farm.  His  early  advantages  of  education  were 
small  but  they  were  improved  to  the  utmost.  In  the  year  1841, 
he  entered  the  preparatory  department  of  Asbury  University, 
then  under  the  presidency  of  the  present  Bishop  Simpson. 
He  graduated  from  the  university  with  honor,  in  1845,  having 
paid  his  way  by  teaching,  at  intervals,  during  his  college  course. 
In  the  winter  of  1845-6,  he  was  elected  professor  of  lan- 
guages in  Iowa  City  college,  and  removed  thither.  He  soon 
became  popular  in  the  city  and  State,  and  in  1847  was  elected 
State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction.  His  competitor 
for  this  office  was  Hon.  Charles  Mason,  a  distinguished  gradu- 
ate of  West.  Point,  who  had  served  as  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Federal  court  of  Iowa  Territory  during  the  whole  period  of  its 
existence,  a  gentleman  of  great  ability  and  unblemished  reputa- 
tion, and  the  nominee  of  the  Democratic  party,  who  had  been, 
and  subsequently  were,  the  dominant  party  in  the  State.  .  His 
election  over  such  a  competitor  was  highly  creditable  to  him, 
especially  as  he  had  been  a  resident  of  the  State  but  two  years. 
276 


HON.   JAMES   HARLAN.  277 

In  1848,  Mr.  Harlan  was  superseded  by  Thomas  H.  Beuton, 
Jr.,  who  was  reported  by  the  canvassing  officers  elected  by 
seventeen  majority.  The  count  was  subsequently  conceded 
to  have  been  fraudulent,  though  Mr.  Benton  was- not  cognizant 
of  the  fraud.  Mr.  Harlan  had  been  for  some  time  engaged  in 
the  study  of  law,  in  his  intervals  of  leisure,  and  now  applied 
himself  to  it  more  closely,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1848, 
He  continued  the  practice  of  his  profession  for  five  years,  and 
was  eminently  successful  in  it.  During  this  period  (in  1849) 
he  was  nominated  by  his  party  for  governor,  but  not  being  of 
the  constitutional  age  for  that  office,  he  declined  the  nomination. 

In  1853,  he  was  elected,  by  the  annual  conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  President  of  the  Mount  Pleasant 
Collegiate  Institute,  which  during  the  winter  following  was 
re-organized  under  an  amended  charter  as  a  university,  and 
Mr.  Harlan  was  retained  in  the  presidency.  His  energy  and 
industry  found  full  scope  in  this  position,  and  for  the  next  two 
years  the  university  grew  and  prospered. 

On  the  6th  of  January,  1855,  without  any  candidacy,  or  even 
knowledge  of  his  nomination,  Mr.  Harlan  was  elected  by  the 
Legislature,  United  States  Senator  from  Iowa,  for  the  six  years 
commencing  March  4th,  1855.  As  a  pretended  informality  in 
this  election  was  made  the  occasion  of  his  being  unseated  by 
the  Democratic  majority  in  the  United  States  Senate,  two  years 
later,  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  somewhat  more  detailed  account 
of  this  election.  In  accordance  with  the  custom  and  the  Con- 
stitution of  Iowa,  the  Senate  and  House  of  Eepresenatives  of 
the  Iowa  Legislature  met,  in  joint  session,  soon  after  the  first 
of  January,  1855,  to  elect  a  Senator  and  judges.  The  two 
parties  were  nearly  balanced  in  both  houses,  and  at  first  there 
was  no  election ;  they  adjourned  from  day  to  day,  when  the 
Democrats  found  that  a  majority  could  be  obtained  on  joint 


278  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

ballot  for  Mr.  Harlan  as  Senator,  and  to  prevent  this,  the 
Democratic  members  of  the  State  Senate  withdrew,  intending 
thereby  to  render  an  election  void.  But  as  the  Democratic 
members  of  the  House  remained,  there  was  a  quorum  of  the 
joint  session  present,  and  Mr.  Harlan  was  elected  by  a  clear 
majority  of  both  houses. 

On  his  election  to  the  Senate,  Mr.  Harlan  resigned  the 
presidency  of  the  university,  but  accepted  the  professorship  of 
political  economy  and  international  law,  to  which  he  was 
immediately  elected,  and  which  he  still  holds. 

He  took  his  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate,  December  3d, 
1855,  and  his  first  formal  speech  was  made  on  the  27th  of 
March,  1856,  on  the  question  of  the  admission  of  Kansas.  It 
was  pronounced  at  the  time,  by  both  friends  and  foes,  the  ablest 
argument  on  that  side  of  the  question  delivered  during  the  pro- 
tracted debate.  Later  in  the  session,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
presenting  the  memorial  of  James  H.  Lane,  praying  the  accept- 
ance of  the  petition  of  the  members  of  the  Kansas  territorial 
Legislature,  for  the  admission  of  their  territory  into  the  Union 
as  a  State,  he  administered  a  most  scathing  rebuke  to  the 
Democratic  majority  in  the  Senate  for  their  tyrannical  and 
oppressive  course  in  regard  to  Kansas.  The  Eepublicans  at 
this  time  numbered  but  a  baker's  dozen  in  the  Senate,  and  it 
had  been  the  fashion  with  the  Democratic  majority  to  refuse 
intercourse,  and  a  place  on  the  committees,  to  some  of  them  on 
the  ground  that  they  were  outside  of  any  healthy  political 
organization.  They  had  been  disposing,  as  they  hoped,  forever, 
of  the  Eepublican  leader  in  the  Senate  (Mr.  Sumner),  by  the 
use  of  the  bludgeon,  and  they  were  greatly  enraged  at  the 
castigation  which  they  now  received  from  another  member 
of  the  little  band,  and  resolved  to  rid  themselves  of  him  also. 
For  this  purpose,  nursing  their  wrath  to  keep  it  warm,  they 


HOX.   JAMES   HARLAX.  279 

called  up  the  action  of  the  Democrats  of  the  Iowa  Senate 
to  which  we  have  already  alluded,  and  early  in  the  second 
session  of  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress,  introduced  a  resolution 
that  "  James  Harlan  is  not  entitled  to  his  seat  as  a  Senator  from 
Iowa."  The  resolution  was  fiercely  debated,  but  the  majority, 
confident  in  their  strength,  passed  it  by  a  full  party  vote  on  the 
12th  of  January,  1857. 

Their  triumph  was  short.  Immediately  on  the  passage  of 
the  resolution  Mr.  Harlan  left  Washington  for  Iowa  City, 
where  the  State  Legislature,  now  unmistakably  Eepublican,  was 
in  session ;  he  arrived  there  on  Friday  evening,  January  16th. 
On  the  next  day,  Saturday,  he  was  re-elected  by  both  houses 
to  the  Senate,  spent  a  few  days  at  his  home  in  Mount  Pleasant, 
returned  to  Washington,  was  re-sworn,  and  resumed  his  seat  on 
the  29th  of  January.  The  next  session  of  Congress  brought 
valuable  additions  to  the  strength  of  the  Kepublican  party  in 
the  Senate,  but  it  had  no  truer  member  than  Mr.  Harlan,  and 
his  fearlessness,  conscientiousness,  industry,  integrity,  and 
ability  as  a  debater,  made  him  an  acknowledged  leader  in  it. 
In  1861,  he  was  re-elected  for  the  term  ending  March  4th,  1867, 
without  a  dissenting  voice  in  his  party  at  home. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Peace  Congress  in  1861,  but-  after 
seeing  the  luembers  sent  from  the  slave  States,  and  witnessing 
the  election  of  Ex- President  John  Tyler  presiding  officer, 
he  predicted  that  its  deliberations  would  end  in  a  miserable 
failure. 

During  the  whole  course  of  the  war,  he  was  the  earnest  sup- 
porter of  President  Lincoln,  whose  personal  friendship  he  en- 
joyed ;  and  through  all  the  light  and  gloom  of  that  dark  period, 
his  faith  in  the  right  never  faltered,  and  his  activity  and  zeal 
were  not  checked  by  depressing  emotions.  He  and  his  accom- 
plished and  gifted  wife  were  throughout  the  war  among  the 


280  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

most  active  helpers  in  the  work  of  the  Sanitary  and  Christian 
Commissions,  ministering  in  person  to  the  wounded,  and  aiding, 
with  pen  and  purse,  the  efforts  for  their  welfare. 

As  a  Senator,  as  the  published  debates  of  Congress  show,  he 
argued  and  elucidated  with  great  clearness  and  conclusiveness 
every  phase  of  the  question  of  slavery  and  emancipation,  in 
all  their  social,  legal  and  economic  ramifications — the  exclusion 
of  slavery  from  the  territories — the  constitutional  means  of 
restriction — climatic  influences  on  the  races,  white  and  black — 
the  necessity  or  propriety  of  colonization — and  the  effects  of 
emancipation  on  the  institutions  of  the  country  North  and 
South. 

He  was  the  earnest  advocate  of  the  early  construction  of  the 
Pacific  Eailroad — had  made  himself,  by  a  careful  examination, 
master  of  the  whole  subject — was  consequently  appointed  a 
member  of  the  "  Senate  Committee  on  the  Pacific  Eailroad ;" 
and  when  the  two  bodies  differed  as  to  the  details  of  the  bill,  he 
was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  of  conference  of  the  two 
houses,  and  did  more  than  any  other  living  man  to  reconcile 
conflicting  views  on  the  amended  bill  which  afterwards  became 
the  law  of  the  land. 

As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  he  exerted 
a  controlling  influence  in  shaping  the  policy  of  the  Government 
in  the  disposition  of  the  public  domain,  so  as  to  aid  in  the 
construction  of  railroads,  and  the  improvement  of  other  avenues 
of  intercourse,  as  well  as  to  advance  the  individual  interests  of 
the  frontier  settler,  by  facilitating  his  acquisition  of  a  landed 
estate,  and  also  by  securing  a  permanent  fund  for  the  support 
of  common  schools  for  the  masses,  and  other  institutions  of 
learning.  Under  his  guidance  the  laws  for  the  survey,  sale, 
and  pre-emption  of  the  public  lauds  were  harmonized,  and  the 
homestead  bil  so  modified,  as  to  render  it  a  practical  and 


HOX.   JAMES   HARLAN.  281 

beneficent  measure  for  the  indigent  settler,  and  at  the  same 
time  but  slightly,  if  at  all,  detrimental  to  the  public  treasury. 
And  on  this  as  well  as  that  other  great  national  measure,  the 
Pacific  Railroad  bill,  above  mentioned,  when  the  two  houses 
disagreed  as  to  details,  Mr.'  Harian  was  selected  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate,  to  act  as  chairman  of  the  committee  of 
conference. 

His  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  land  laws,  his  clear 
perception  of  the  principles  of  justice  and  equity  which  should 
control  in  their  administration,  and  his  unwearied  industry  and 
care  in  the  examination  of  all  claims  presented  to  Congress 
growing  out  of  the  disposition  of  the  public  lands  to  private 
citizens,  corporations,  or  States — caused  him  to  be  regarded 
almost  in  the  light  of  an  oracle,  by  his  compeers  in  the  Senate, 
whenever  any  of  these  claims  were  pending ;  his  statements,  of 
fact  were  never  disputed,  and  his  judgment  almost  always 
followed. 

Immediately  after  he  was  placed  upon  the  Senate  Committee 
on  Indian  Affairs,  it  became  manifest  that  he  had  made  himself 
master  of  that  whole  subject  in  all  of  its  details.  He  conse- 
quently exercised  a  leading  influence  on  the  legislation  of 
Congress  affecting  our  intercourse  with  these  children  of  the 
forest ;  humanity  and  justice  to  them,  as  well  as  the  safety  of 
the  frontier  settlements  from  savage  warfare,  with  him  were  cardi- 
nal elements,  to  guide  him  in  shaping  the  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment. The  effect  of  the  repeal,  over  Mr.  Harlan's  earnest  protest, 
of  the  beneficent  features  of  the  Indian  intercourse  laws,  under 
the  lead  of  Senator  Hunter,  which,  all  admit,  laid  the  foundation 
for  our  recent  Indian  wars,  furnishes  a  marked  illustration  of 
the  safety  of  his  counsels  in  these  affairs. 

As  a  member  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Agriculture,  he  was 
the  earnest  advocate  of  every  measure  calculated  to  develop 


282  MEN   OF   OTJR   DAY. 

and  advance  that  great  national  interest,  and  prepared  the  only 
report,  marked  by  scientific  research,  made  on  that  subject  by 
the  Senate  Committee  during  the  last  ten  years.  He  gave  his 
earnest  support  to  the  Agricultural  College  bill,  though  in  con- 
flict with  his  views  of  the  proper  policy  for  the  disposition  of 
the  public  lands,  because  he  regarded  it  as  the  only  opportu- 
nity for  laying  firmly  the  foundation  for  these  nurseries  of 
scientific  agriculture,  which  must  prove  of  vast  consequence 
for  good,  to  the  whole  people  of  this  continent,  and  the  toiling 
millions  of  the  old  world. 

Though  never  unjust  or  illiberal  toward  the  older  and  more 
powerful  members  of  the  Union,  he  has  ever  been  the  vigilant 
guardian  of  the  peculiar  interests  of  the  new  States,  including 
his  own.  He  has  also  been  a  no  less  vigilant  guardian  of  the 
public  treasury,  though  never  lending  himself  to  niggardly  and 
parsimonious  measures. 

His  inauguration  of  the  proposition  for  the  construction  of  a 
ship  canal  from  the  northern  lakes  to  the  waters  of  the 
Mississippi  (see  Congress.  Globe,  2d  session,  36  Congress,  Part 
I.) ;  his  opposition  to  legislation  on  the  Sabbath ;  his  introduc- 
tion of  resolutions  on  fasting  and  prayer ;  his  propositions  for 
reform  in  the  chaplain  service  of  the  army  and  navy ;  in  aid  of 
foreign  emigration;  the  reconstruction  of  the  insurrectionary 
States ;  the  reclamation  of  the  Colorado  desert ;  the  improvement 
of  navigation  of  lakes  and  rivers  ;  the  application  of  meteorolo- 
gical observations  in  aid  of  agriculture  to  land  as  well  as  sea ; 
for  the  support  of  scientific  explorations  and  kindred  measures ; 
for  reform  in  criminal  justice  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and 
in  the  territories ;  and  his  remarks  on  such  subjects  as  the  bank- 
rupt bill ;  the  Kentucky  Volunteers  bill ;  the  bill  to  re-organize 
the  Court  of  Claims ;  on  the  resolution  relating  to  Floyd's  accept- 
ances; on  the  bill  to  indemnify  the  President;  on  the  conscrip- 


HON.   JAMES   HARLAN.  283 

tion  bill ;  on  the  conditions  of  release  of  State  prisoners ;  on  the 
disqualification  of  color  in  carrying  the  mails  ;  on  the  organiza- 
tion of  territories ;  on  amendment  to  the  Constitution ;  on  the 
district  registration  bill ;  on  bill  to  establish  Freedmen's  Bureau ; 
on  inter-continentg.1  telegraph ;  on  bill  providing  bail  in  certain 
cases  of  military  arrests  ;  on  the  construction  of  railroads ;  on 
education  in  the  District  of  Columbia  for  white  and  colored 
children ;  on  the  Income  Tax  bill ;  altogether  furnish  an  indica- 
v  tion  of  the  range  of  his  acquirements,  the  tendency  of  his 
thoughts,  and  the  breadth  of  his  views,  which  cannot  otherwise 
be  given  in  a  sketch  necessarily  so  brief  as  to  exclude  copious 
extracts  from  published  debates. 

Among  his  numerous  eloquent  and  elaborate  speeches  in  the 
Senate,  we  have  only  room  for  a  brief  abstract  of  one,  which 
must  serve  as  a  sample  of  the  whole.  It  is  that  delivered  in 
reply  to  Senator  Hunter  of  Virginia,  during  the  winter  of  1860- 
61,  immediately  preceding  the  first  overt  acts  of  the  rebellion. 
This  speech  was  characteristic  in  clearness,  method,  directness, 
force,  and  conclusiveness,  and  was  regarded,  by  his  associates  in 
the  Senate,  as  the  great  speech  of  the  session.  In  the  commence- 
ment, he  examined  and  exposed,  in  their  order,  every  pretext 
for  secession,  and  proceeded  to  charge  upon  the  authors  of  the 
then  incipient  rebellion,  with  unsurpassed  vigor  and  force,  that 
the  loss  of  political  power  was  their  real  grievance.  He  indi- 
cated the  impossibility  of  any  compromise,  on  the  terms  proposed 
by  the  southern  leaders,  without  dishonor,  and  pointed  out  the 
means  of  an  adjustment  alike  honorable  to  the  South  and  the 
North,  requiring  no  retraction  of  principle  on  the  part  of  any 
one,  by  admitting  the  territories  into  the  Union  as  States.  He 
warned  the  South  against  a  resort  to  an  arbitrament  of  the 
sword ;  predicted  the  impossibility  of  their  sec  uring  a  division 
of  the  States  of  the  northwest  from  the  Middle  and  New  Bng- 


OF    OUR    DAY. 

land  States  the  certainty  and  comparative  dispatch  with  which 
an  armed  rebellion  would  be  crushed,  and  concluded  with  a 
most  powerful  appeal  to  these  conspirators  not  to  plunge  the 
country  into  such  a  sea  of  blood.  Upon  the  conclusion  of  this 
speech  four  fifths  of  the  Union  Senators  crowded  around  to  con- 
gratulate him,  and  a  state  of  excitement  prevailed  on  the  floor 
of  the  Senate  for  some  moments,  such  as  had  seldom  if  ever 
before  been  witnessed  in  that  body. 

He  was  selected  by  the  Union  members  of  the  House  and 
Senate  as  a  member  of  the  Union  Congressional  committee  for 
the  management  of  the  presidential  campaign  of  1864.  Being 
the  only  member  of  the  committee  on  the  part  of  the  Senate 
who  devoted  his  whole  time  to  this  work,,  he  became  the  active 
organ  of  the  committee — organized  an  immense  working  force, 
regulated  its  finances  with  ability  and  unimpeachable  fidelity, 
employed  -a  large  number  of  presses  in  Washington,  Balti- 
more, Philadelphia,  and  New  York,  in  printing  reading  matter 
for  the  masses,  which  resulted  in  the  distribution  of  many  mil- 
lions of  documents  among  the  people  at  home,  and  in  all 
our  great  armies.  To  his  labors  the  country  was,  doubtless, 
largely  indebted,  for  the  triumphant  success  of  the  Union  can- 
didates. 

"With  the  foregoing  record,  it  is  not  remarkable  that  he 
should  have  been  selected  by  that  illustrious  statesman  and 
patriot,  Abraham  Lincoln,  immediately  preceding  his  lamented 
death,  for  the  distinguished  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

Mr.  Harlan's  nomination  was  unanimously  confirmed  by  the 
body  of  which  he  was  at  the  time  an  honored  member,  without 
the  usual  reference  to  a  committee.  But,  immediately  after  the 
accession  of  Mr.  Johnson  to  the  presidency,  with  a  delicacy 
and  sense  of  propriety  worthy  of  imitation,  he  tendered  his 
declination  of  this  high  office.  This  not  being  accepted,  Mr. 


HON.   JAMES   HARLAN.  285 

Harlan  did  not  deem  it  proper,  in  the  disturbed  condition  of 
public  affairs,  to  make  it  peremptory,  and,  in  accordance  with 
the  President's  expressed  desire,  and  the  demands  of  the  national 
welfare,  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  and  entered  on  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  of  the  position,  May  loth,  1865.  Mr. 
Harlan's  great  familiarity  with  the  laws  pertaining  to  the  de- 
partment of  which  he  had  now  become  the  leading  spirit,  not 
only  enabled  him  fully  to  meet  public  expectation  in  the  admin- 
istration of  its  affairs,  but  to  establish  it  upon  a  basis  of  useful- 
ness, hitherto  unknown  in  its  history. 

The  fact  becoming  manifest  to  the  people  of  Iowa,  that  Mr. 
Harlan  could  not  long  remain  as  a  confidential  adviser  of  Presi- 
dent Johnson,  on  account  of  the  early  and  repeated  aberrations  of 
the  latter  from  the  cardinal  principles  of  the  political  party  by 
whom  he  had  been  elected  to  the  vice -presidency,  and  not  being 
disposed  to  dispense  with  the  services  of  so  faithful  a  public  ser- 
vant, he  was  re-elected  by  the  Legislature  of  1866,  to  his  old 
seat  in  the  United  States  Senate.  The  following  August  he 
resigned  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  re-entered 
the  Senate  Chamber  on  the  4th  of  March,  1867,  with  the  full 
period  of  six  years  before  him.  He  was  immediately  appointed 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia,  also 
chairman  of  the  joint  committee  of  the  two  Houses  of  Con- 
gress to  audit  expenses  of  executive  mansion,  and  was  assigned 
to  membership  on  the  important  committees  of  Foreign  Bela- 
tions,  Pacific  railroad,  and  Post  Offices,  and  Post  roads,  respec- 
tively. 

No  better  evidence  can  be  found  in  the  history  of  any  states- 
man in  the  country,  whether  his  public  services  or  his  private 
character  be  viewed,  that  the  duties  of  high  official  position 
have  been  ably,  conscientiously  and  faithfully  executed,  than  in 
the  instance  before  us.  Even  party  malignity,  seldom  scr.ipu- 


286  MEN   OP   OUR   DAY. 

lous  as  to  the  weapons  it  employs  against  a  powerful  adversary, 
has  uniformly  been  too  prudent  to  weaken  itself  by  charging, 
even  in  innuendo,  that  Mr.  Harlan  was  ever  guilty  of  any  of 
the  corruptions,  peculations  and  deceptions  that  so  frequently 
mark  the  modern  politician. 


HON.  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS, 

UNITED  STATES    MINISTER    PLENIPOTENTIARY  TO   ENGLAND. 


'HIS  eminent  diplomatist  comes  of  an  illustrious  lineage. 
The  only  son  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  sixth  President 
of  the  Republic,  who  survived  his  father,  and  the  grand- 
son of  John  Adams,  the  second  President  of  the  United 
States,  he  inherits  patriotic  sentiments,  and  has  done  honor,  in 
his  public  career,  to  some  of  the  noblest  names  in  our  nation's 
past  history. 

CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS  was  born  in  Boston,  Massachusetts, 
August  18, 1807.  At  the  age  of  two  years,  he  was  taken  by  his 
father  to  St.  Petersburg,  where  he  remained  for  the  next  six 
years,  his  father  being  United  States  Minister  at  the  Russian 
Court.  During  his  residence  at  the  Russian  capital,  he  learned 
to  speak  the  Russian,  German  and  French,  as  well  as  the  English. 
In  February,  1815,  he  made  the  perilous  journey  from  St.  Pe- 
tersburg to  Paris,  with  his  mother,  in  a  private  carriage,  to  meet 
his  father.  The  intrepidity  of  Mrs.  Adams,  in  undertaking  such 
a  journey  in  midwinter,  and  when  all  Europe  was  in  a  state  of 
commotion,  gave  evidence  that  the  courage  and  daring  which  her 
son  inherited,  were  not  all  due  to  the  father's  side. 

John  Quincy  Adams  was  next  appointed  Minister  to  England, 
and  during  his  residence  there,  he  placed  Charles  at  a  boarding 
school,  where,  in  accordance  with  the 'brutal  practices  in  vogue 

in  the  English  schools,  he  was  obliged  to  fight  his  English 

287 


288  MEN  OF  OUR  DAY- 

schoolfellows  in  defence  of  the  honor  of  America.  But,  young 
as  he  was,  he  was  too  plucky  to  be  beaten,  and  maintained  his 
country's  cause  with  as  much  valor,  though  probably  with  less 
intelligence,  than  he  has  since  been  called  to  exercise  in  its 
behalf. 

In  1817,  his  father  was  recalled  to  America,  to  become  Secre- 
tary of  State  in  President  Monroe's  administration,  and  young 
Adams,  on  his  return,  was  placed  in  the  Boston  Latin  school, 
from  whence  he  entered  Harvard  College,  in  1821,  and  gradu- 
ated there  with  honor  in  1825.  His  father  was  at  this  time 
President,  and  the  son  spent  the  next  two  years  in  Washington; 
but,  in  1827,  returned  to  Massachusetts,  and  commenced  the 
study  of  the  law  in  the  office  of  Daniel  Webster.  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1828,  but  did  not  engage  actively  in 
practice. 

In  1829,  Mr.  Adams  married  a  daughter  of  Peter  C.  Brooks, 
an  opulent  merchant  of  Boston,  another  of  whose  daughters  was 
the  wife  of  Hon.  Edward  Everett.  He  was  nominated,  in  1830, 
as  Eepresentative  in  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  ;  but  he  had 
no  political  aspirations,  and  declined  to  be  a  candidate.  At  his 
father's  request,  however,  he  consented  "to  be  a  candidate  the 
next  year,  and  was  elected  for  three  years  successively,  and  was 
then  chosen  State  Senator  for  two  years.  His  sentiments  were 
at  this  time  more  decidedly  anti-slavery  than  those  of  most  of 
the  leading  Whigs  of  Boston  and  its  vicinity,  and  as  he  avowed 
them  freely,  and  did  not  seek  or  desire  political  preferment,  he 
was  suffered  to  remain  in  private  life,  and  busy  himself,  as  he 
desired  to  do,  with  literary  pursuits.  During  this  period  he 
edited  the  letters  of  Mrs.  John  Adams,  contributed  frequent  and 
Tery  able  articles  to  the  North  American  Review  and  the  Christian 
Examiner,  and  gathered  the  materials  for  his  great  work,  the 
"Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  Second  President  of  the 


HON.   CHARLES   FRANCIS  ADAMS.  289 

United  States.  In  or  about  1845,  he  commenced  the  publica- 
tion of  a  daily  paper  in  Boston,  (of  which  he  was  also  the  prin- 
cipal editor,  though  aided  by  Henry  Wilson,)  bearing  the  title 
of  the  Boston  Whig.  The  aim  of  this  paper  was  to  represent 
the  views  of  the  aflti  -slavery  portion  of  the  "Whig  party.  The 
paper  was  edited  with  decided  ability,  but  never,  we  imagiae, 
attained  to  a  pecuniary  success.  It  was  very  useful,  however,  in 
rousing  and  stimulating  the  anti-slavery  sentiment,  which  was 
beginning  to  leaven  both  of  the  great  political  parties. 

In  1848,  the  nomination  of  General  Taylor,  by  the  Whigs,  on 
a  pro-slavery  platform,  and  of  General  Cass,  by  the  Democrats, 
on  an  equally  southern  declaration  of  opinions,  led  to  a  Avith- 
drawal  of  the  anti-slavery  men  of  both  parties  and  the  formation 
of  the  Free  Soil  party.  This  party,  at  their  convention  in  Buf- 
falo, nominated  ex-President  Yan  Buren  for  the  Presidency  and 
Charles  Francis  Adams  for  the  Yice  Presidency.  There  was,  of 
course,  no  hope  of  an  election  of  these  candidates,  but  the  party 
had  a  respectable  following.  After  the  election,  the  Boston 
Whig  became  the  Boston  Republican,  and  Mr.  Adams,  for  a  time, 
continued  a  general  supervision  over  its  columns ;  but  General 
Wilson  and  Mr.  (now  Eev.)  Lucius  E.  Smith  were  the  active 
editors.  This  paper  was  the  principal  organ  of  the  Free  Soil 
party  in  New  England,  and  laid  the  foundations,  broad  and  deep, 
for  the  Eepublican  party,  which  came  into  existence  in  1854. 
After  a  time,  Mr.  Adams  disposed  of  his  interest  in  it,  and  devoted 
himself  with  great  assiduity  to  the  memoir  of  his  grandfather  and 
the  careful  editing  of  his  works.  This  valuable  contribution  to  the 
early  history  of  our  country  is  written  with  that  elegant  scholar- 
ship which  marks  all  Mr.  Adams's  compositions,  and  is  remark- 
ably impartial  in  its  details  of  the  life  of  the  venerable  Presi- 
dent. It  occupies  ten  volumes.  In  the  autumn  of  1859,  Mr. 
Adams  was  called  from  his  literary  pursuits  to  represent  his  dis- 
19 


290  MEN   OF   OUR  DAY, 

trict  in  Congress.  His  course  there,  on  the  eve  of  the  rebellion, 
was  every  way  worthy  of  the  great  name  he  bore  and  of  his 
own  previous  history.  Calm,  dignified,  yet  tenacious  in  his 
adherence  to  the  great  principles  of  right,  he  was  such  a  repre- 
sentative as  it  became  Massachusetts  to  have  at  such  a  time. 
He  was  re-elected  to  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress ;  but,  in  the 
spring  of  1861,  Mr.  Lincoln  nominated  him  as  minister  to 
England,  and  he  was  promptly  confirmed  by  the  Senate. 

A  more  trying  position  than  this,  during  the  war,  could 
hardly  be  found.  The  greater  part  of  the  aristocracy,  and  a 
decided  majority  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  sympathized 
from  the  first  with  the  South,  most  of  them  openly.  The 
Cabinet,  if  they  did  not  lean  in  the  same  direction,  at  least  had 
no  confidence  in  the  final  success  of  the  Government  in  putting 
down  the  Rebellion,  and  were  disposed  to  wink  at  violations  of 
the  Navigation  and  Foreign  Enlistment  acts,  while  they  made 
haste  to  acknowledge  the  South  as  a  belligerent  power.  This 
state  of  feeling  engendered  a  corresponding  hostility  on  this 
side,  and  there  was  a  great  and  constant  danger  that  the  two 
nations  would  drift  into  war  with  each  other,  an  event  which 
must  be  prevented  by  any  sacrifice  short  of  that  of  national 
honor.  Our  sanguine  and  impulsive  Secretary  of  State,  though 
aware  of  the  difficulty,  seemed,  sometimes,  to  delight  in  hovering 
upon  the  very  verge  of  actual  hostilities,  and  Earl  Russell,  the 
British  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  while  really,  at  heart,  more 
friendly  to  us  than  any  other  member  of  the  Cabinet,  was  so 
irascible  and  impetuous,  that  he  was  constantly  making  the 
question  more  difficult  and  complicated. 

Fortunate  was  it  for  both  countries,  that  their  diplomatic  rep- 
resentatives, Mr.  Adams  in  England,  and  Lord  Lyons  here,  were 
men  of  such  calm,  clear,  cool  heads,  and  of  such  imperturbable 
tempers.  Mr.  Adams  could  be,  and  was,  firm  and  decided  enough 


HON.    CHARLES   FRANCIS   ADAMS.  291 

upon  occasion.  His  promptness  in  following  up  the  traces 
of  the  purpose  for  which  the  Alabama,  the  Shenandoah,  and 
the  other  war  vessels  contracted  for  by  the  rebels  were  build- 
ing, his  energetic  representations  concerning  them  to  the 
British  Government,  and  his  remonstrances  at  their  unfriendly 
acts  and  omissions  toward  a  power  with  which  they  were  at 
peace,  showed  his  ability  and  competency  for  his  position.  Un- 
fortunately, the  conclusion  of  the  war  did  not  end  the  difficul- 
ties of  his  diplomacy.  The  Alabama  claims,  the  Fenian  troubles, 
and  the  appeals  to  him  to  protect  American  citizens,  who  had 
become  involved  in  the  Fenian  riots  and  uprisings  in  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  served  to  enhance  the  cares  and  anxieties 
of  his  station,  and  he  has,  very  naturally,  after  so  long  and 
painful  a  service,  asked  to  be  relieved. 

It  is  certainly  greatly  to  his  honor,  that,  in  this  trying  and 
difficult  position,  he  has  won  the  respect  and  admiration  of  his 
and  our  political  enemies,  and  that,  notwithstanding  his  firm- 
ness and  decision  in  exacting  the  rights  of  his  country,  the 
organs  of  English  opinion  should  have  felt  compelled  to  say 
that  no  American  minister  had  ever  more  thoroughly  won  the 
respect  and  esteem  of  the  English  people. 

In  his  manner  and  address,  Mr.  Adams  has  much  of  the 
dignity  and  self-possession  of  the  best  class  of  English  gentle- 
men. He  is  generally  regarded  as  somewhat  cold  and  unsym- 
pathetic in  his  character,  but  this  is,  perhaps,  in  part  due  to  his 
reticent  and  self-contained  nature.  Great  emergencies  have 
always  revealed  a  depth  in  his  nature  and  an  earnest  sympathy 
with  the  right,  which  ought  to  satisfy  any  true  patriot.  He  has 
certainly  proved  himself,  in  his  diplomatic  career,  "  the  right 
man  in  the  right  place." 


JOHN  ADAMS  DIX. 


fOHN  ADAMS  DIX  was  born  at  Boscawen,  New  Hamp- 
shire, on  the  24th  of  July,  1798,  and  is  the  son  of  Timo- 
thy Dix,  a  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  United  States  army. 
Sent  first,  at  an  early  age,  to  an  academy  at  Salisbury, 
he  was  thence  transferred  to  a  similar  institution  at  Exeter, 
under  the  well  known  Dr.  Abbott,  where  he  pursued  his  studies 
in  the  companionship  of  Jared  Sparks,  John  G.  Palfrey,  the 
Buckminsters  and  Peabodys,  who  have  since  become  eminent 
men.  In  1811,  he  was  sent  to  Montreal,  in  Canada,  where  he 
continued  his  studies  under  the  careful  direction  of  the  fathers 
of  the  Sulpician  order.  In  July,  1812,  however,  the  opening  of 
hostilities  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  com- 
pelled his  return  to  his  native  country,  and  in  December,  follow- 
ing, he  received  an  appointment  as  a  cadet  in  the  United  States 
army,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  at  Baltimore,  where  his  father 
was  then  stationed  on  recruiting  service.  His  duties  here 
being  merely  those  of  an  assistant  clerk  to  his  father,  he  diligently 
improved  the  opportunity  which  was  offered,  of  continuing 
his  studies  at  St.  Mary's  college,  in  that  city.  He  had  already 
attained  high  proficiency  in  the  Spanish,  Greek,  and  Latin 
languages,  and  in  mathematics ;  and  was  esteemed,  by  those 
who  knew  him  best,  as  a  most  highly  cultivated  and  gentle- 
manly young  man.  In  March,  1813,  while  visiting  Washington, 

he  was  tendered,  unsolicited,  a  choice  of  a  scholarship  at  West 
292 


JOHN   ADAMS    DIX.  293 

Point,  or  an  ensign's  rank  in  the  army.  Selecting  the  latter, 
he  was  commissioned  in  his  father's  regiment,  the  fourteenth 
infantry,  and  immediately  joined  his  company  at  Sackett's 
Harbor,  New  York,  being  the  youngest  officer  in  the  United 
States  army ;  and  was  shortly  made  a  third  lieutenant  of  the 
twenty-first  infantry.  A  sad  loss  shortly  after  befell  the  young 
lieutenant,  in  the  death  of  his  father,  in  camp,  leaving  a  widow 
and  eight  children,  besides  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  upon 
whom  now  devolved  the  responsibility  of  saving,  for  his  loved 
ones,  something  from  the  estate,  which  had  become  seriously 
embarrassed  by  the  colonel's  long  absence  in  the  service.  In 
March,  1814,  he  was  promoted  to  a  second  lieutenancy,  and  in 
June,  1814,  was  transferred  to  an  artillery  regiment,  commanded 
by  Colonel  "Walback,  to  whose  staff  he  was  attached  and  under 
whose  guidance  he  passed  several  years  in  perfecting  his  mili- 
tary education,  not  forgetting  his  favorite  readings  in  history 
and  the  classics.  While  in  this  position,  he  was  made  adjutant 
of  an  independent  battalion  of  nine  companies,  commanded  by 
Major  Upham,  with  which  he  descended  the  St.  Lawrence,  in 
a  perilous  expedition,  which  resulted  in  more  severe  hardship 
than  good  fortune. 

In  March,  1816,  young  Dix  was  appointed  first  lieutenant ; 
and,  in  1819,  entered  the  military  family  of  General  BroAvn  as 
an  aide-de-camp,  and  began  to  read  law  during  his  leisure 
hours,  with  a  view  of  leaving  the  army  at  an  early  day. 
During  this  period  he  was,  in  May,  1821,  transferred  to  the 
first  artillery ;  and,  in  August  following,  to  the  third  artillery, 
being  promoted  to  a  captaincy  in  the  same  regiment  in  1825. 
His  health  having  become  seriously  impaired,  he  obtained  a 
leave  of  absence,  and  visited  Cuba,  during  the  winter  of  1825 
-26,  and  extended  his  travels  in  the  following  summer  to 
Europe.  Marrying  in  1826,  he  retired  from  the  army,  and  in 


294  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

December,  1828,  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  established  him- 
self in  practice  at  Cooperstown,  New  York.  Entering  warmly, 
also,  into  politics,  he  became  prominent  in  the  Democratic 
party;  and,  in  1830,  was  appointed, by  Governor  Throop,  adju- 
tant-general of  the  State,  in  which  capacity  he  rendered  effi- 
cient service  to  the  militia  of  New  York.  In  1833,  he  was 
elected  Secretary  of  State  for  New  York,  becoming  ex-officio  a 
regent  of  the  University,  and  a  member  of  the  board  of  Public 
Instruction,  the  Canal  board,  and  a  commissioner  of  the  Canal 
fund.  By  his  wise  foresight  and  energy,  school  libraries  were 
introduced  into  the  public  and  district  schools,  and  the  school- 
laws  of  the  State  were  codified  and  systematized. 

In  1841  and  1842,  he  represented  Albany  county  in  the  New 
York  Legislature,  taking  an  active  and  influential  part  in  the 
most  important  measures  of  that  period,  such  as  the  liquidation 
of  the  State  debt  by  taxation,  and  the  establishment  of  single 
Congressional  districts.  In  the  fall  of  1842,  Mr.  Dix  accom- 
panied his  invalid  wife  abroad,  spending  that  winter  and  the 
following  year  in  the  southern  climates  of  Europe.  Eeturn- 
ing  to  the  United  States  in  June,  1844,  he  was  chosen,  in 
January  following,  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  of  Hon.  Silas  Wright,  who  had  recently  been 
elected  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York.  He  took  his  seat  in 
that  body,  January  27,  1845,  and  speedily  secured  a  deservedly 
high  position  among  his  confreres,  being  energetic  and  indus- 
trious to  a  remarkable  degree,  and  always  well  prepared  for  what 
ever  question  might  arise.  As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Commerce,  and  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs, 
he  did  the  country  excellent  service.  He  was  the  author  of  tho 
warehousing  system  then  adopted  by  Congress,  and  gave  to  tha 
Canadian  debenture  law,  and  the  bill  for  reciprocal  trade,  much 
of  his  time  and  attention.  When,  during  the  short  session  of 


JOHN  ADAMS   DIX.  295 

1845,  the  Santa  Fe  debenture  bill  was  proposed,  he  secured  an 
amendment  including  the  Canadas,  which,  together  with  the 
original  bill,  was  largely  indebted  to  his  advocacy  for  its  pas- 
sage. His  bill  for  reciprocal  trade  with  Canada,  formed  the 
basis  for  the  subsequent  reciprocity  treaty.  He  also  took  great 
interest  in  army  atfairs,  as  in  well  as  the  annexation  of  Texas, 
the  war  with  Mexico,  and  the  Oregon  difficulty ;  and  firmly  main- 
tained the  right  of  Congress  to  legislate  with  regard  to  slavery  in 
the  Territories.  Owing  to  divisions  in  the  Democratic  party,  he 
was  not  re-elected  to  the  Senate ;  but  ran,  unsuccessfully,  as  the 
nominee  of  the  "  Free  Soil"  wing  of  that  party,  for  Governor,  in 
the  fall  of  1848.  He  actively  sustained  the  nomination  of 
General  Pierce  for  the  presidency,  in  1852,  and  upon  that  gentle- 
man's accession  to  office,  was  tendered  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
State ;  which,  owing  to  the  opposition  made  by  the  Southern 
Democrats  of  the  Mason  and  Slidell  school,  he  was  induced  to 
decline,  as  also  the  appointment  of  minister  to  France,  which 
was  subsequently  offered  him.  In  1853,  he  was  made  Assistant 
United  States  Treasurer  in  New  York  city ;  but,  on  the  appoint- 
ment of  John  Y.  Mason  to  the  French  embassy,  resigned  the 
position,  and  withdrew  almost  wholly  from  politics,  devoting  his 
time,  until  1859,  to  legal  practice.  At  that  time,  however,  he 
was  appointed,  by  President  Buchanan,  postmaster  of  New  York 
city,  vice  I.  Y.  Fowler,  absconded. 

When,  in  January,  1861,  Messrs.  Floyd  and  Cobb,  of  the 
first  Buchanan  cabinet,  resigned  their  positions  and  fled  from 
Washington,  the  financial  embarrassments  of  the  Government 
required  the  appointment  of  a  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in 
whose  probity,  patriotism,  and  skill  the  whole  country  could 
confide,  General  Dix  was  called  to  that  high  office,  and  entered 
on  its  duties,  January  15, 1861.  The  promptness  of  his  measures 


296  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

did  as  much  to  reassure  the  public  and  save  the  Government,  aa 
the  exertions  of  any  other  man  in  Washington. 

On  the  18th  of  January,  1861,  three  days  after  he  took  charge 
of  the  Treasury  Department,  he  sent  a  special  agent  to  New 
Orleans  and  Mobile,  for  the  purpose  of  saving  the  revenue  ves- 
sels at  those  ports,  from  seizure  by  the  rebels.  The  most  valua- 
ble of  these  vessels,  the  Eobert  McClelland,  was  commanded  by 
Captain  John  G.  Breshwood,  with  S.  B.  Caldwell  as  his  lieu- 
tenant. Breshwood  refused  to  obey  the  orders  of  General  Dix's 
agent,  Mr.  Jones ;  and  on  being  informed  of  this  refusal,  General 
Dix  telegraphed  as  follows: — " If  any  man  attempts  to  haul  down 
ike  American  flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot!"  memorable  words, 
which  became  a  watchword  throughout  the  loyal  States. 

While  a  member  of  Buchanan's  cabinet,  Major  (now  General) 
Eobert  Anderson  made  his  famous  strategical  movement  from 
Fort  Moultrie  to  Fort  Sumter,  which  so  excited  the  indignation 
of  the  (arch-rebel)  Secretary  Floyd,  that  he  threatened  to  resign 
if  Anderson  was  not  ordered  back.  General  Dix,  thereupon, 
promptly  notified  Mr.  Buchanan,  that  Major  Anderson's  recall 
would  be  the  signal  for  the  immediate  resignation  of  himself  and 
the  other  members  of  the  Cabinet  (Messrs.  Stanton  and  Holt), 
and  his  firmness  decided  the  course  of  the  weak-minded  execu- 
tive, and  Floyd  himself  left — none  too  soon  for  his  own  neck, 
or  the  country's  good. 

On  the  6th  of  March,  1861,  Mr.  Dix  retired  from  the  Treasury 
Department,  and  returned  to  his  home  in  New  York  city,  where 
he  presided,  on  the  20th  of  April,  over  an  immense  meeting  of 
the  citizens  of  the  metropolis,  convened  in  Union  Square,  to  take 
measures  for  the  defence  of  the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  so 
recently  and  rudely  assailed  by  the  rebel  attack  upon. Fort  Sum- 
ter— and  he  was  also  chairman  of  the  "  Union  Defence  Commit- 
tee," organized  at  that  meeting.  On  the  6th  of  May,  he  was 


JOHN    ADAMS    DIX.  297 

appointed  a  major-general  of  volunteers,  from  New  York ;  and, 
on  the  16th  of  the  following  June,  he  was  appointed  major- 
general  in  the  regular  army,  dating  from  May  16th,  1861,  by 
President  Lincoln,  and  placed  in  command  of  the  department 
of  Maryland,  his  headquarters  being  at  Baltimore.  The  first 
military  movement  of  the  war  that  was  successful,  was  made 
under  his  command  by  General  Lockwood.  The  counties  of 
Accomac  and  Northampton,  in  Yirginia,  known  as  the  Eastern 
Shore,  were  occupied  by  him,  the  rebels  driven  out,  and  the 
mildness  and  justness  of  his  government  restored  them  as  loyal 
counties  to  the  Union,  while  every  other  part  of  Virginia  was 
in  arms  and  devastated  with  war.  The  command  of  Maryland 
at  that  period  required  a  man  of  the  greatest  tact,  firmness,  and 
judgment ;  for  that  reason,  General  Dix  was  selected  by  the 
President.  His  rule  was  one  of  such  moderation  and  justice, 
that  his  reputation  in  Baltimore  is  honored  by  his  most  violent 
political  opponents. 

In  May,  1862,  he  was  transferred  to  the  command  of  the 
military  department  of  Eastern  Yirginia,  with  headquarters  at 
Fortress  Monroe.  This  department  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  his 
services  until  July,  18(53,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the 
Department  of  the  East,  with  headquarters  at  New  York  city. 
To  his  very  prompt  action  for  the  prevention  of  any  outbreak 
during  the  draft  of  August,  1863,  the  metropolis  was  indebted 
for  the  peaceful  manner  in  which  that  draft  was  finally  carried 
out.  His  subsequent  assignments  to  duty  were  administrative, 
and  attended  with  no  particular  incidents  of  importance,  except 
the  trial  of  John  Y.  Beall  and  E.  C.  Kennedy,  as  spies  and  con- 
spirators,  in  February  and  March,  1865,  and  their  execution. 
At  the  so-called  National  Union  Convention  at  Philadelphia, 
August  14,  1866,  General  Dix  was  temporary  chairman.  In 
the  autumn  of  1866  he  was  nominated,  by  the  President,  naval 


298  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

officer  of  the  port  of  New  York,  and  the  same  day,  United 
States  minister  to  France,  in  place  of  Hon.  John  Bigelow,  re- 
signed. After  some  hesitation,  General  Dix  made  his  election 
to  accept  the  post  of  minister  to  France,  and  having  been  con- 
firmed by  the  Senate,  arrived  in  Paris,  and  was  presented  to  the 
Emperor  in  January,  1867.  He  still  occupies  this  position.  In 
the  intervals  of  a  very  busy  life,  General  Dix  has  found  some 
time  for  authorship,  and  his  writings  are  marked  by  a  united 
grace  and  dignity  of  style,  which  renders  them,  when  not  on 
technical  or  professional  subjects,  attractive  and  readable.  This 
is  specially  true  of  his  "A  Winter  in  Madeira"  (New  York, 
1851),  and  "  A  Summer  in  Spain  and  Florence"  (New  York, 
1855).  His  speeches  and  public  addresses  were  collected  in 
two  fine  volumes  in  1865.  He  has  also  published  "  Eesources 
of  the  City  of  New  York"  (New  York,  1827),  and  "  Decisions 
of  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  of  New  York,"  and 
laws  relating  to  common  schools  (Albany,  1837). 

Though  now  in  his  seventieth  year,  General  Dix  preserves 
the  erect  and  military  bearing  of  the  soldier,  and,  during  the 
late  war,  was  one  of  the  finest  looking  officers  in  the  army.  He 
bears  a  high  reputation  for  thorough  honesty  and  integrity,  and 
his  character  is  irreproachable.  If,  with  increasing  years,  he 
has,  like  his  former  chief,  General  Scott,  a  little  vanity,  it  is  a 
pardonable  weakness,  a  most  venial  fault,  of  which  his  great 
public  services  should  render  us  oblivious. 


WILLIAM  ALFRED  BUCKINGHAM. 


JILLIAM  ALFEED  BUCKINGHAM  is  a  direct  descend- 
ant,  in  the  sixth  generation,  from  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Buckingham  and  his  wife  Hester  Hosmer,  who  were  of 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  in  1666.  His  father,  Captain 
Buckingham,  as  he  was  called,  was  a  farmer,  in  Lebanon,  Con- 
necticut, a  shrewd  manager  of  property,  of  clear  mind  and 
sound  judgment,  and  frequently  appealed  to  as  umpire  in 
matters  of  difference  between  neighbors.  His  wife  was  a 
remarkable  woman,  having  few  equals  in  all  that  was  good, 
endowed  with  strong  natural  powers  both  of  mind  and  body, 
indomitable  perseverance  and  energy ;  with,  as  one  of  her 
neighbors  described  her,  "  a  great  generous  heart." 

WILLIAM  ALFRED  BUCKINGHAM,  who  was  born  at  Lebanon, 
May  24th,  1804,  happily  partook  of  the  strong  points  of  both 
his  parents.  His  father  being  absent  from  home,  on  business, 
during  a  portion  of  the  year,  much  of  the  work  and  care  of  the 
farm  necessarily  devolved  upon  him,  while  yet  a  mere  boy,  and 
he  thus  early  acquired  habits  of  industry  and  self-reliance. 
One  who  knew  him  well  at  this  period  of  his  life,  says,  "  I  don't 
think  any  thing  left  in  his  care  was  ever  overlooked  or 
neglected."  The  same  friend  says,  "  he  was  early  trained  in  the 
school  of  benevolence.  I  have  often  seen  him  sent  off  on 
Saturday  afternoons,  when  the  weather  was  severe,  with  a 
wagon  load  of  wood,  from  his  father's  well-stored  wood-shed, 

299 


300  MEX  OF   OUR   DAY. 

and  a  number  of  baskets  and  budgets,  destined  to  cheer  some 
destitute  persons  in  the  neighborhood,  and  make  them  comfort- 
able. He  received  his  education  at  the  common  school  in 
Lebanon,  and  passed  a  term  or  two  at  Colchester  Academy — 
evincing  a  peculiar  fondness  for  the  study  of  mathematics, 
especially  in  the  higher  branches.  As  he  grew  up,  he  developed 
as  a  lively,  spirited  "  fast"  young  man,  in  the  lest  acceptation 
of  that  term — his  habits  being  excellent,  and  integrity  being  a 
marked  feature  in  his  character.  Indeed,  he  was  regarded  as 
rather  a  leader  among  the  young  people  with  whom  he  asso- 
ciated. 

In  early  manhood,  he  was  a  member  of  a  cavalry  militia 
company,  and  "  trooped"  with  the  same  energy  which  has  since 
characterized  him  in  whatever  he  undertook — excelling  in 
military  matters,  and  becoming  a  master  of  the  broadsword 
exercise. 

Commencing  mercantile  life,  as  a  clerk  in  the  city  of  New 
York;  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  he  removed  to  Norwich, 
Connecticut,  in  1825,  and  entered  into  the  employ  of  Messrs. 
Hamlin,  Buckingham  &  Giles.  A  few  years  later  he  com- 
menced business  on  his  own  account,  and  by  enterprise, 
thrift,  punctuality,  and  honorable  dealing,  became  a  most 
successful  and  widely  respected  merchant.  He  has  since  been 
extensively  engaged  in  various  manufactures;  especially  in 
the  Hay  ward  Eubber  Company,  of  which  he  was  treasurer  for 
many  years;  and  the  town  of  Norwich  has  been  largely 
indebted  to  his  example  and  influence.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Norwich  Free  Academy,  and,  in  1849.  was 
elected  mayor  of  the  city,  which  office  he  filled  for  two 
years.  His  eminently  practical  mind  and  great  executive 
ability  have  contributed  largely  to  the  manufacturing  and 
industrial  interests  of  his  native  State;  and  the  whole  weight 


WILLIAM   ALFEED   BUCKINGHAM.  301 

of  his  personal  character  and  sympathies  has  ever  been  enlisted 
in  support  of  religion,  temperance,  industry,  and  education. 
We  have  it  on  excellent  authority,  that  the  governor,  at  the 
commencement  of  his  business  career,  made  a  resolve  to  set 
aside  one  fifth  of  each  year's  income  to  be  applied  to  objects  of 
religious  benevolence ;  and  that  his  experience  was  for  many 
years,  and  perhaps  is  still,  that  each  year's  income  was  so 
much  in  excess  of  that  which  preceded  it,  that  at  the  year's  end 
he  always  had  an  additional  sum  to  distribute  to  objects  of 
benevolence,  to  make  out  the  full  fifth  of  his  receipts.  A 
striking  illustration  this,  of  the  declaration  of  holy  writ: 
"There  is  that  scattereth  and  yet  increaseth."  During  the 
eight  terms  of  his  gubernatorial  career,  his  entire  salary, 
as  governor,  was  bestowed  upon  benevolent  objects;  for  the 
most  part,  we  believe,  on  Yale  college,  in  which  he  founded 
several  scholarships,  for  worthy  but  indigent  students.  In- 
deed, the  spirit  of  benevolence  which  he  inherited  from  his 
parents,  has  ever  remained  a  distinguishing  feature  of  his 
character.  In  providing  for  the  wants  of  the  poor  and  unfor- 
tunate, and  in  the  unostentatious  performance  of  every  good 
work,  Governor  Buckingham's  life  has  been  a  record  of  un 
wearied  industry. 

The  qualities  which  had  gained  him  the  respect  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  as  they  became  more  widely  known,  commended  him 
to  the  public  as  a  candidate  for  higher  positions  of  trust  and 
responsibility.  In  1858,  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  to  the  same  office  he  was  re-elected  in  1859,  and  1860. 
Again,  on  the  1st  of  April,  1861,  he  was  chosen  to  the  guberna- 
torial chair,  by  a  majority  of  two  thousand  and  eighty-six  votes, 
the  entire  Eepublican  State  ticket  being  elected,  at  the  same 
time,  together  with  a  large  Union  and  ^Republican  majority  in 
both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly.  On  the  15th  of  the  same 


302  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

month,  he  received  the  President's  call  for  seventy-five  thousand 
volunteers.  The  Legislature  was  not  then  in  session,  but  the 
governor  had  been  among  the  first  to  see  (in  1860)  the  rising 
cloud  of  "  the  irrepressible  conflict."  He  had  long  since  aban- 
doned any  hopes  of  settling  the  national  difficulties  by  compro- 
mise; he  had  recognized  them  as  questions  on  which  every 
citizen  must  decide  squarely,  for  right  or  wrong,  for  freedom  or 
slavery.  Therefore  his  action,  when  the  storm  burst,  was 
prompt  and  decided.  He  took  immediate  measures  on  his  own 
responsibility,  to  raise  and  equip  the  quota  of  troops  required 
from  Connecticut ;  his  own  extensive  financial  relations  enabling 
him  to  command  the  funds  needed  for  the  purpose.  He  threw 
himself  into  the  work,  with  all  the  force  of  his  energetic  nature ; 
and  during  that  week  of  anxiety,  when  Washington  was  isolated 
from  the  north,  by  the  Baltimore  rising,  his  message — that  the 
State  of  Connecticut  was  coming  "to  the  rescue,"  with  men  and 
money,  was  the  first  intimation  received  by  the  President,  that 
help  was  near  at  hand.  The  banks  came  to  his  aid,  and  money 
and  personal  assistance  were  tendered  freely  by  prominent  par- 
ties in  every  section  of  the  State — so  that,  by  the  time  (May  1st) 
that  the  Legislature  had  assembled  in  extra  session  (in  response 
to  a  call  which  he  had  made  upon  the.  receipt  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
proclamation),  he  had  the  pleasure  of  informing  them  that  forty- 
one  volunteer  companies  had  already  been  accepted,  and  that  a 
fifth  regiment  was  ready.  Ten  days  later,  the  first  regiment, 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-four  strong,  under  Colonel  (afterwards 
General)  A.  H.  Terry,  left  the  State,  equipped  with  a  thorough- 
ness— as  were  all  the  Connecticut  troops — which  elicited  univer- 
sal admiration  from  all  who  beheld  them. 

Soon  after  he  pronounced  his  conviction,  in  an  official 
communication  to  the  Washington  cabinet,  that  "this  is  no 
ordinary  rebellion,"  that  it  "  should  be  met  and  suppressed  by  a 


WILLIAM   ALFEED   BUCKINGHAM.  303 

power  corresponding  with  its  magnitude,"  that  the  President 
"  should  ask  for  authority  to  organize  and  arm  a  force  of  half  a 
million  of  men,  for  the  purpose  of  quelling  the  rebellion,  and 
for  an  appropriation  from  the  public  treasury  sufficient  for  their 
support,"  "  that  legislation  upon  every  other  subject  should  be 
regarded  as  out  of  time  and  place,  and  the  one  great  object  of 
suppressing  the  rebellion  be  pursued  by  the  Administration, 
with  vigor  and  firmness."  "  To  secure  such  high  public  inter- 
ests," said  the  governor,  "  the  State  of  Connecticut  will  bind  her 
destinies  more  closely  to  those  of  the  General  Government,  and 
in  adopting  the  measures  suggested,  she  will  renewedly  pledge 
all  her  pecuniary  and  physical  resources,  and  all  her  moral 
power."  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  Governor  Buckingham 
took  an  accurate  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  extent,  the 
probable  course  and  the  power  of  the  war  just  inaugurated — 
and  better  would  it  have  been  for  our  country,  if  others  of  our 
leading  statesmen  had  pursued,  at  that  critical  hour,  the  same 
calm,  clear  insight  and  broad  statesmanship.  There  was  nothing 
undecided  in  his  thought  or  action.  His  suggestions  upon  every 
point  relative  to  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  the  policy  of 
the  State,  were  full  of  patriotic,  far-seeing  wisdom.  He  was 
nobly  seconded  by  a  loyal  Legislature,  and  though  "  peace  men" 
tried  to  intimidate  the  Unionists,  their  attempts  recoiled  upon 
their  own  heads.  By  the  1st  of  March,  1862,  fifteen  Connecticut 
regiments  were  in  the  field,  and  by  November  following,  28,551 
soldiers  had  been  furnished  to  the  defence  of  the  Union,  by  the 
little  "  "Wooden  Nutmeg  State." 

In  April,  1862,  Governor  Buckingham  was  re-elected  and  his 
efforts  were  as  untiring  as  ever.  No  amount  of  disaster  in  the 
field,  of  hesitation  in  council,  or  of  depression  in  the  public 
mind,  seemed  to  affect  him.  He  was  always  ready  to  make  greater 
sacrifices ;  always  full  of  hope  and  determination ;  and,  with  the 


304  MEN   OP   OUR   DAY. 

late  lamented  John  A.  Andrew,  the  noble  governor  of  the  sister 
State  of  Massachusetts,  lie  was  among  the  earliest  to  urge  the 
necessity  of  an  Emancipation  Proclamation  upon  President  Lin- 
coln. When  that  great  step  had  at  length  been  taken,  he  wrote 
to  the  President  these  cheering  and  congratulatory  words : 

"  Permit  me  to  congratulate  you  and  the  country  that  you 
have  so  clearly  presented  the  policy  which  you  will  hereafter 
pursue  in  suppressing  the  rebellion,  and  to  assure  you  it 
meets  my  cordial  approval,  and  shall  have  my  unconditional 
support.  The  State  has  already  sent  into  the  army,  and  has 
now  at  the  rendezvous,  more  than  one  half  of  her  able-bodied 
men  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five  years,  and 
has  more  to  offer,  if  wanted,  to  contend  in  battle  against  the 
enemies  of  our  Government." 

The  spring  campaign  of  1863  was  an  exciting  one;  em- 
boldened by  the  ill -success  of  the  national  arms,  the  Democracy 
rallied  around  the  standard,  of  "no  more  war !"  while  the  Ee- 
publicans,  with  equal  ardor,  advocated  a  more  vigorous  prose- 
cution of  the  war,  and  were  cordially  seconded  by  the  Connecti- 
cut soldiers  in  the  field.  Buckingham,  however,  was  re-elected 
by  a  majority  of  2637,  in  a  total  vote  of  79,427,  in  which  had 
been  polled  9000  more  votes  than  the  year  previous,  and  2000 
more  than  the  aggregate  presidential  vote  of  1860. 

In  April,  1864,  Governor  Buckingham  was  re-nominated  by 
the  Republicans,  against  Origen  S.  Seymour,  Democrat,  and  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  5,658,  in  a  total  vote  of  73,982.  Again, 
in  1865,  he  was  re-elected  governor  over  the  same  opponent  by 
a  majority  of  11,035,  in  a  vote  of  43,374. 

In  his  annual  message  he  strongly  advocated  giving  soldiers 
in  the  field  the  privilege  of  the  ballot,  and  national  legislation 
for  the  abolishment  of  slavery. 

With  1865,  closed  Governor  Buckingham's  long  gubernato- 


WILLIAM  ALFRED  BUCKINGHAM.  305 

rial  career  of  eight  years,  of  which  five  were  "  war  years,  fully 
tasking  his  every  physical  and  mental  power,  and  loading  him 
with  an  incessant  burden  of  responsibility  and  care.  His  course, 
during  this  arduous  term  of  service,  had  commanded  the  uni- 
versal respect  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  the  admiration  of  all 
loyal  hearts  throughout  the  Northern  States.  Prominent  among 
that  noble  circle  of  loyal  governors  who  rallied  around  the 
President,  in  his  darkest  hours,  with  brotherly  advice  and  en- 
couraging words,  Governor  Buckingham's  relations  with  Mr. 
Lincoln  strongly  remind  us  of  those  between  President  "Wash- 
ington and  Governor  Trumbull,  the  "  Brother  Jonathan"  of  the 
^Revolutionary  war. 

After  the  close  of  his  last  term  of  service,  in  April,  1866,  he 
returned  to  Norwich,  where  he  is  now  quietly  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile affairs.  He  has  lately  been  nominated,  and  warmly 
endorsed  by  his  fellow-citizens,  in  the  Kepublican  State  Conven- 
tion of  Connecticut,  for  the  vice-presidency  upon  the  Grant 
ticket. 

Still  more  recently,  on  the  19th  of  May,  1868,  he  was  elected, 
by  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut,  United  States  Senator  from 
that  State  for  the  six  years  ending  March  4,  1875,  in  place  of 
James  Dixon,  who  had  proved  false  to  the  party  that  advanced 
him  to  that  high  office. 
20 


GOVERNOR  REUBEN  E.  FENTON. 


^OVERNOR  FENTON  is  one  of  the  few  men  who,  bred 
neither  to  law  nor  politics,  but  occupied  during  early  life 
with  mercantile  pursuits,  have  entered  later  in  their 
career  into  the  political  arena,  and  acquitted  themselves 
so  well  as  to  be  advanced  to,  and  continued  in,  high  station. 
Though  himself  a  native  of  the  State  of  New  York,  his  family, 
like  many  others  whose  record  we  have  given  in  this  volume, 
are  of  Connecticut  origin.  He  claims  descent  from  Eobert  Fen- 
ton,  a  man  of  note  among  the  settlers  of  the  eastern  part  of  Con- 
necticut, and  who  was  one  of  the  patentees  of  the  town  of  Mans- 
field, when  that  town  was  set  off  from  Windham,  in  1703.  During 
the  Eevolutionary  war,  the  family  was  noted  for  its  patriotism, 
and  furnished  its  full  share  of  soldiers  for  that  great  struggle. 
The  grandfather  of  the  governor,  about  1777,  removed  to  New 
Hampshire,  in  which  State  his  father  was  born.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  present  century,  Mr.  Fenton,  then  an  enterprising 
young  farmer,  removed  to  what  is  now  the  town  of  Carroll, 
Chautauqua  county,  New  York,  then  a  portion  of  the  Holland 
land  patent,  where  he  purchased  a  tract  of  land,  and  by  dint  of 
constant  hard  work,  brought  this  portion  of  "the  forest  primeval" 
into  the  condition  of  a  pleasant  and  profitable  farm.  Here — 
July  4,  1819 — his  son,  REUBEN  E.  FENTON,  was  born. 

Young  Fenton's  early  years  were  spent  upon  the  paternal 
homestead,  and  though  an  amiable,  friendly  and  popular  boy 


306 


GOVERNOR  REUBEN  E.  FENTON.  307 

among  his  associates,  lie  seems  to  have  developed  no  remarkable 
genius  or  ability  in  his  boyhood.  He  was  somewhat  fond  of 
military  studies,  and  in  the  boyish  trainings  was  uniformly 
chosen  captain,  and  it  was  probably  owing  to  this  taste  that  he 
was  chosen  colonel  of  the  162d  regiment,  New  York  State 
militia,  before  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

His  opportunities  for  acquiring  an  education  were  very  lim- 
ited, but  they  were  well  improved.  He  was  a  good  scholar 
when  he  was  in  the  common-school,  and  when,  subsequently,  he 
passed  a  few  terms  in  different  academies,  he  made  rapid  pro- 
gress as  a  student,  and  won  the  approbation  of  his  preceptors 
for  his  manly  qualities  and  exemplary  deportment.  He  read 
law  one  year,  not  with  the  view  of  going  into  the  profession, 
but  to  make  himself  familiar  with  the  principles  and  forms  of 
that  science,  under  the  impression  that  this  knowledge  would  be 
useful  to  him  in  whatever  business  he  might  engage. 

At  the  age  of  twenty,  he  commenced  business,  with  very 
limited  means  and  under  adverse  circumstances.  But  the  fact 
did  not  discourage  him,  nor  turn  him  from  his  purposes.  The 
world  was  before  him,  and  what  others  had  accomplished,  young 
Fenton  resolved  should  be  done  by  him.  He  went  at  his  work 
jvith  all  the  earnestness  and  energy  of  his  character,  and  a  few 
/ears  saw  him  a  successful  and  prosperous  merchant.  While  in 
this  pursuit,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  lumber  trade,  as  an 
auxiliary  to  his  mercantile  business.  He  was  still  a  young  man 
when  he  purchased  his  first  "  boards  and  shingles,"  and  as  he 
floated  off  upon  his  fragile  raft,  valued  at  less  than  one  thousand 
dollars,  there  were  not  wanting  those  who  wondered  at  his 
temerity,  and  the  failure  of  his  enterprise  was  confidently  pre- 
dicted. But  nothing  could  dampen  his  ardor.  He  tied  his  little 
raft  safely  on  the  shore  of  the  Ohio,  near  Cincinnati,  went  into 
the  city,  found  a  customer,  sold  his  lumber,  and  returned  to  hi? 


308  MEN   OF   OUK   DAY. 

home  with  a  pride  and  satisfaction  never  excelled  in  after  years, 
though  he  went  the  round  with  profits  tenfold  greater.  Lum- 
bering became  in  a  few  years  his  principal  business ;  and  to  such 
a  man,  success  and  competence  were  but  a  matter  of  time.  He 
soon  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  successful  lum- 
berman on  the  Alleghany  and  Ohio  rivers ;  but  this  came  only 
because  he  wrought  it  by  untiring  perseverance  and  indefati- 
gable energy. 

In  1843,  Mr.  Fenton  was  chosen  supervisor  of  his  native 
town,  and  held  the  position  for  eight  successive  years.  Three 
of  these  eight  he  was  chairman  of  the  board,  though  the  board 
was  two  to  one  "Whig,  while  he  was  a  well-known  Democrat. 
But  he  was  courteous  and  affable,  manly  and  upright,  genial 
and  sensible,  and  his  opponents,  by  common  consent,  selected 
him  to  preside  over  their  deliberations. 

In  1849,  his  friends  nominated  him  for  the  assembly,  and  he 
came  within  twenty-one  votes  of  being  elected,  though  the  suc- 
cessful candidate  was  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  popular  men 
in  the  assembly  district,  which  was  strongly  Whig. 

In  1852,  he  was  put  in  nomination  by  the  Democrats  for 
Congress,  and  elected  by  fifty-two  majority,  though  the  district, 
from  the  manner  in  which  it  was  accustomed  to  vote,  should 
have  given  at  least  3,000  majority  against  him.  He  took  his 
seat,  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  1853,  in  a  House  which 
was  Democratic  by  about  two  to  one.  Mr.  Douglas,  chairman 
of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Territories,  in  the  course  of  the 
session,  was  beguiled  into  embodying  in  a  bill  which  provided 
for  the  organization  as  territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  a  re- 
peal of  that  portion  of  the  Missouri  compromise  of  1820,  which 
forbade  the  legalization  of  slavery  in  any  territory  of  the 
United  States,  lying  north  of  north  latitude,  thirty-six  degrees 
and  thirty  minutes.  Mr.  Fenton,  with  N.  P.  Banks,  and  quite 


GOVERNOR  REUBEN  E.  FENTON.  309 

a  number  of  the  younger  Democrats,  with  Colonel  Thomas  H, 
Benton  and  other  seniors,  steadfastly  opposed  this  proposition, 
and  opposed  the  bill  because  of  it.  The  bill  was  nevertheless 
forced  through  the  House  by  a  vote  of  113  to  100,  and  became 
a  law.  In  the  division  that  thereupon  ensued,  Mr.  Fenton  took 
Republican  ground  with  Preston  King,  Ward  Hunt,  George 
Opdyke,  and  other  conspicuous  Democrats,  and  he  has  never 
since  been  other  than  a  Eepublican. 

In  1854,  the  American  or  Know  Nothing  party  carried  his 
district  by  a  considerable  majority  (Mr.  Fenton  consenting  to  be 
a  candidate  on  the  Saturday  previous  to  election),  as  they  did 
a  good  many  others  in  the  State ;  but,  in  1856,  he  ran  on  the 
FREMONT  ticket,  and  was  elected,  and  thence  re-elected  by 
large  and  generally  increasing  majorities  down  to  1864,  when 
he  withdrew,  having  been  nominated  for  Governor.  He  thus 
served  five  terms  in  Congress,  each  as  the  representative  of  the 
strongly  Whig  district  composed  of  Chautauqua  and  Cattarau- 
gus  counties,  which  contains  many  able  and  worthy  men  who 
were  in  full  accord  with  its  by-gone  politics,  and  to  the  almost 
unanimous  acceptance  of  his  constituents. 

Immediately  on  entering  Congress,  Mr.  Fenton  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  soldiers  of  1812,  and  shortly  after  introduced  a  bill 
providing  for  the  payment  of  the  property  accounts  between 
the  United  States  and  the  State  of  New  York,  for  military 
stores  furnished  in  the  war  of  1812.  This  measure  he  con- 
tinued to  urge  upon  the  attention  of  Congress,  and  finally,  on 
the  30th  May,  1860,  had  the  satisfaction  to  witness  its  passage 
in.  the  House  by  a  vote  of  98  to  80.  He  had  a  leading  place  on 
important  committees,  and  performed  the  duties  appertaining  to 
these  positions  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  all.  It  is  but  simple 
truth  to  say  that  he  was  one  of  the  quietly  industrious  and 
faithful  members  of  the  House.  Nor  was  he  a  silent  represents- 


310  MEN   OP   OUR   DAY. 

tive.  He  could  talk  when  there  seemed  a  necessity  for  speak- 
ing. During  his  Congressional  career,  he  delivered  able  and 
effective  speeches  against  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Comprom- 
ise act ;  in  advocacy  of  a  cheap  postal  system ;  the  bill  to  ex- 
tend invalid  pensions ;  for  the  improvement  of  rivers  and  har- 
bors ;  to  regulate  emigration  to  this  country ;  against  the  policy 
of  the  Democratic  party  with  regard  to  Kansas ;  for  the  final 
settlement  of  the  claims  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolution;  in 
vindication  of  the  principles  and  policy  of  the  Republican  party ; 
on  the  Deficiency  bill ;  the  bill  to  facilitate  the  payment  of  boun- 
ties ;  on  the  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law  ;  on  providing  for 
payment  of  losses  by  the  rebellion,  etc. 

Mr.  Fenton  served  in  Congress  nearly  to  the  end  of  the  war 
for  the  Union,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  firmest  and  most 
efficient  supporters.  Believing  the  Union  to  be  right  and  the 
rebellion  wrong  throughout,  he  gave  his  best  energies  to  the 
national  cause,  voting  steadily  for  taxes,  loans,  levies,  drafts, 
and  for  the  emancipation  policy  whereby  they  were  rendered 
effectual.  Men  of  greater  pretensions  were  abundant  in  Con- 
gress, but  there  was  none  more  devoted,  or  more  ready  to 
invoke  and  to  make  sacrifices  for  the  triumph  of  the  Union. 

In  the  fall  of  1862,  Mr.  Fenton's  name  was  favorably  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  office  of  governor,  but  finding 
General  Wadsworth  was  to  be  pressed  for  a  nomination,  Mr. 
Fenton  promptly  withdrew  from  the  canvass,  and  yielded  to  the 
patriot- soldier  his  warmest  support.  In  1864,  Mr.  Fenton  was 
designated  as  the  standard-bearer  of  the  Republican  party,  and 
chosen  governor  by  a  majority  considerably  larger  than  Mr. 
Lincoln's ;  and  two  years  later,  he  was  unanimously  re-nomina- 
ted, and  chosen  by  an  increased  majority. 

The  administration  of  Governor  Fenton  commenced  at  the 
culminating  period  of  the  war,  and  required  the  exercise  of 


GOVERNOR  REUBEN  E.  FENTON.  311 

industry,  method,  decision,  and  the  power  of  discriminating, 
originating,  and  executing.  He  brought  to  the  discharge  of 
his  new  position  all  these  forces  of  body  and  mind,  and  proved 
patient  amid  perplexities,  quick  in  his  perceptions,  safe  in  hip 
judgments,  mastering  toilsome  details,  and  successfully  meeting 
difficult  emergencies.  His  practical  training,  his  wide  experi- 
ence, his  luminous  intellect  and  well-disciplined  judgment, 
saved  him  from  the  failure  that  a  man  of  less  power  might 
have  encountered.  His  official  relations  with  our  soldiers  did 
not  weaken  the  attachments  that  had  given  him  the  honored 
title  of  the  "  soldier's  friend."  He  was  prompt  to  reward  merit, 
and  skilful  to  harmonize  differences  that  often  threatened 
demoralization  and  serious  injury  to  many  of  the  military 
organizations,then  in  the  field.  Upon  the  return  home  of  the 
soldiers,  Governor  Fenton  addressed  a  letter  to  the  war  commit- 
tees of  the  various  districts  in  the  State,  in  which  he  suggested 
the  propriety  of  a  hearty  and  spontaneous  welcome  to  the 
heroic  defenders  of  the  country,  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  the 
State — an  ovation  to  demonstrate  the  gratitude  of  those  whose 
battles  they  had  so  bravely  fought. 

Governor  Fenton's  judicious  course  fully  commanded  the 
public  confidence  and  approval,  and  at  the  close  of  the  first 
year  of  his  term,  many  of  the  most  prominent  and  influential 
citizens  of  New  York  city  addressed  him  a  letter  of  thanks, 
promising  him  their  hearty  co-operation  and  support  in  his 
efforts  to  improve  the  condition  and  health  of  the  metropolis. 
A  few  months  later,  when  he  visited  New  York  city,  thousands 
of  the  best  men  of  New  York  waited  upon  him,  in  person  to 
assure  him  of  their  respect  and  approval  of  his  course. 

He  found  it  necessary  to  veto  several  bills  of  the  first  Legisla- 
ture which  sat  after  his  election,  in  consequence  of  their  de- 
priving the  city  of  New  York  of  valuable  franchises,  without 


312  MEN  OF   OUR  DAY. 

conferring  compensating  advantages.  For  these  acts,  he  was 
thanked  publicly,  by  a  resolution  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors 
of  New  York  county.  Governor  Fenton's  views  upon  the 
political  issues  which  were  involved  in  Mr.  Johnson's  attempted 
"policy"  were  ably  expressed,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
committee  of  a  meeting  held  to  ratify  the  action  of  the  State 
Union  Convention,  in  October,  1866,  and  soon  after  in  a  speech 
delivered  at  a  large  political  gathering  in  Jamestown.  During 
the  canvass  that  followed,  his  opponents  were  unable  to  assail 
any  portion  of  his  official  record,  and  his  friends  proudly 
pointed  to  it,  as  what  a  patriotic  governor's  should  be. 

When,  in  August,  1866,  Mr.  Johnson,  in  the  course  of  his 
political  tour,  generally  known  as  "  swinging  round  the  circle," 
visited  Albany,  a  proper  regard  for  the  high  o,ffice  he  held, 
required  that  the  governor  of  the  State  should  proffer  its 
hospitalities  to  him.  Governor  Fenton  did  so  in  the  following 
brief  but  dignified  address : — 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT  : — 

"With  high  consideration  for  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
Republic,  I  address  you  words  of  welcome  in  behalf  of  our 
citizens  and  the  people  of  the  State  whose  capital  you  visit. 
We  extend  to  you  and  to  your  suite  hospitality  and  greeting, 
and  desire  your  safe  conduct  as  you  go  hence  to  pay  honor 
to  the  memory  of  the  lamented  Douglas, — to  the  State  also 
distinguished  as  the  home  and  final  resting  place  of  the  patriot 
and  martyr,  Lincoln. 

"  I  have  no  power  to  give  due  expression  to  the  feelings  of 
this  assemblage  of  citizens,  nor  to  express  in  fitting  terms  the 
respect  and  magnanimity  of  the  whole  people  upon  an  occasion 
so  marked  as  the  coming  to  our  capital  and  to  our  homes  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  In  their  name  I  give 
assurance  to  your  excellency  of  their  fidelity,  patriotism  and 
jealous  interest  in  all  that  relates  to  the  good  order,  progress, 
and  freedom  of  all  the  States,  and  of  their  earnest  hope  that 


GOVERNOR  REUBEN  E.  FENTON.  313 

peace  will  soon  open  up  to  the  people  of  the  whole  land  new 
fields  of  greater  liberty,  prosperity  and  power." 

The  Eepublican  party,  in  1866,  saw  the  necessity  of  selecting 
wise  men  for  its  nominees.  The  more  discerning  politicians 
felt  that  there  was  reason  to  fear  an  unfavorable  result  of  the 
canvass.  Herculean  efforts  were  being  made  to  defeat  the 
party  at  the  polls.  A  division  had  been  created  among  those 
who  had  heretofore  professed  its  principles.  A  number  of 
influential  gentlemen  openly  repudiated*  its  ideas  in  regard  to 
reconstruction.  The  Philadelphia  Convention  had  produced 
a  schism,  which  it  was  feared  might  prove  formidable,  if  not 
disastrous.  Those  who  were  the  most  pronounced  in  favor 
of  the  policy  of  President  Johnson,  were  the  most  earnest  in 
their  opposition  to  Governor  Fenton.  The  question  naturally 
arose  whether  this  marked  hostility  might  not  prove  fatal  to 
success,  by  stimulating  the  Conservatives  to  greater  effort,  and 
enabling  them  to  exert  more  powerful  influence  over  the 
moderate  and  doubtful  portion  of  the  party ;  and  whether  a 
man  less  likely  to  be  thus  assailed  might  not  be  stronger.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  was  to  be  considered  the  effect  which  the 
leading  measures  of  his  administration  had  produced  on  the 
popular  mind.  His  national  policy  had  contributed  in  a 
marked  degree  to  the  success  of  the  war.  He  had  entered  upon 
his  term  of  office  as  successor  to  one  who  disapproved  of  many 
of  the  principal  features  of  the  war  policy  of  the  Government, 
and  who  had  been  elected  because  of  his  decided  views  in 
relation  thereto.  He  had  stimulated  volunteering,  and  secured 
for  the  State  a  more  just  recognition  of  its  rights ;  had  worked 
clear  from  the  complications  in  which  the  public  interest  had 
been  involved  by  the  blundering  and  incompetency  of  the  pro- 
vost marshal  general ;  and  had  relieved  New  York  from  a  large 
portion  of  the  dreaded  burden  of  the  draft.  He  had  done 


314  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

much,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  head  of  the  State  finance 
department,  to  originate  a  financial  system  which  rendered  the 
credit  of  the  State  stable  and  secure,  and  furnished  the  means 
to  supply  the  demands  of  war,  without  being  felt  as  oppressive. 
By  his  keen  appreciation  of  the  wants  of  the  soldiers,  his  tender 
solicitude  for  their  welfare,  and  his  earnest  efforts  in  their 
behalf,  he  had  firmly  attached  them  to  himself.  In  his  State 
policy,  he  had  sought  to  foster  all  the  material  interests  of  the 
commonwealth;  and  had  reluctantly  interposed  to  the  defeat 
of  needed  enterprises  when  their  aid  would  render  the  burden 
of  taxation  onerous,  and  awaited  a  more  favorable  opportunity 
to  join  in  giving  them  that  aid.  He  was  vigilant  in  his  at- 
tention to  the  commercial  wants  of  the  State,  both  in  the  great 
metropolis  and  through  its  extensive  lines  of  transit.  This  un- 
wavering devotion  to  the  essential  prosperity  of  the  State, 
elicited  confidence  and  commendation.  All  the  discriminating 
judgment  and  forecast  of  the  statesman  had  been  displayed 
in  a  marked  degree.  These  views  were  impressed  on  the 
minds  of  the  representative  men  of  his  party,  and  when  the 
Convention  assembled,  so  strongly  did  they  prevail,  and  so 
heavily  did  they  outweigh  adverse  considerations,  that  no 
other  name  was  suggested,  and  he  was  unanimously  nominated 
by  acclamation.  The  Democrats  entered  upon  the  canvass  full 
of  hope.  Prominent  places  were  given  by  them,  on  the  State 
ticket,  to  Eepublicans  who  dissented  from  the  principles  enun- 
ciated by  the  Republican  party,  and  nominations  of  a  like 
character  were  made  for  many  local  offices  in  various  portions 
of  the  State.  The  result  showed  that  Governor  Fenton's 
strength  had  not  been  miscalculated.  He  was  re-elected  by  a 
majority  five  thousand  larger  than  that  given  him  in  his  first 
canvass. 

The  year  1867  furnished  the  occasion  for  a  continuation  of  a 


GOVERNOR  REUBEN  E.  PENTON.  315 

policy  which  had  proved  so  acceptable,  and  it  is  not  necessary 
that  we  should  dwell  upon  its  features. 

The  absence  of  all  malevolence  in  the  heart  of  Governor  Fen- 
ton,  and  the  broad  charity  of  his  nature,  were  displayed  during 
the  past  year.  The  remains  of  the  rebel  dead  had  been  left 
unburied  at  Antietam.  A  letter  from  Governor  Fenton,  breath- 
ing the  spirit  of  loyalty  and  humanity,  decided  the  committee  at 
once  to  an  act  both  Christian  and  proper,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  spirit  of  the  law  of  Maryland,  which  authorized  the  pur- 
chase of  a  cemetery,  and  created  a  corporation  to  carry  out  the 
declared  object  of  burying  in  it,  all  who  fell  on  either  side 
during  the  invasion  of  Lee  at  the  battle  of  Antietam.  In  that 
letter  he  took  the  high  ground  that  it  "  was  a  war  less  of  sec- 
tions than  of  systems,"  and  that  the  nation  could  confer  decent 
burial  on  the  southern  dead  while  condemning  and  sternly 
opposing  the  heresies  for  which  they  had  sacrificed  themselves ; 
and  that  attachment  to  the  Union  and  devotion  to  the  most 
thorough  measures  for  its  preservation  and  restoration  were  not 
inconsistent  with  the  broadest  charity,  and  the  observance  of 
sacred  obligations  to  the  dead.  This  letter  accomplished  the 
intended  purpose ;  and  the  bones  of  the  rebel  soldiers  who  fell 
on  that  memorable  field,  will  be  interred  as  befitting  not  only  a 
legal  obligation,  but  the  highest  demands  of  civilization  and 
our  common  humanity. 

In  his  message  to  the  Legislature  of  1868,  Governor  Fenton 
forcibly  expressed  himself  in  favor  of  materially  reducing  the 
number  of  items  in  the  tax  lists,  and  of  a  re-adjustment  of  the 
assessment  laws — now  so  glaringly  unequal — in  order  that  every 
source  of  wealth  might  bear  its  just  proportion  of  burden.  He 
also  took  strong  ground  in  defence  of  the  inviolate  maintenance 
of  the  national  faith.  In  his  usual  terse  and  vigorous  style,  he 
argued  against  the  legality  of  the  Governments  instituted  by 


316  MEN   OF   OUR  DAY. 

President  Johnson,  after  the  cessation  of  active  hostilities,  and 
held  that  the  reconstruction  acts  of  Congress  were  necessary, 
because  the  Southern  States  had  rejected,  with  scorn,  the  peace- 
offering  of  the  Constitutional  Amendment.  He  eloquently 
expressed  himself  in  behalf  of  the  rights  of  the  freedman,  in 
consideration  of  his  manhood  and  loyalty,  to  protection  through 
law,  and  to  the  elective  franchise. 

Governor  Fenton  realizes  that  the  people  of  New  York 
have  made  him  their  Chief  Magistrate,  and  that  they  look  to 
him,  and  to  no  other  person,  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  the  responsible  position.  He  is  controlled  by  no 
clique — he  is  the  agent  of  no  cabal.  He  patiently  listens  to  all 
who  desire  to  consult  him,  and  then  follows  the  dictates  of  his 
own  good  judgment.  He  has  no  prejudice  so  strong,  nor 
partiality  so  great,  as  to  lead  him  to  do  an  unjust  act.  He  is  a 
careful  thinker  and  a  hard  worker.  No  man  ever  labored 
more  hours  in  the  executive  chamber  than  he  does.  What- 
ever work  engages  his  attention,  he  attends  to  it  personally, 
even  to  the  minutest  details. 

He  is  a  decided  radical,  and  yet  he  cannot  be  called  an 
extreme  man.  There  is  just  enough  conservatism  in  his  com- 
position to  save  him  from  doing  an  unwise  or  rash  act.  His 
mind  is  thoroughly  practical.  He  is  a  man  of  decided  convic- 
tions, and  fearless  in  their  expression,  and  yet  his  manner  of 
address  and  style  of  composition  are  so  gentle  and  courteous  as 
to  almost  disarm  opposition. 

A  more  upright  man  does  not  exist.  Make  it  clear  to  him 
that  a  thing  ought  to  be  done,  and  he  will  do  it,  no  matter  who 
may  advise  differently.  He  has  trod  on  great  schemes  and 
powerful  lobbies  in  his  State.  He  has  defended  public  interest 
against  the  rapacity  of  organized  theft.  He  has  escaped  the 
charge  of  connivance  with  any  of  these  organized  rings. 


GOVERNOR  REUBEN  E.  FENTON.  317 

He  has  won  the  grateful  regard  of  the  Eepublicans  of  the 
State. 

The  Kepublican  State  Convention,  of  New  York,  held  at 
Syracuse,  February  5,  1868,  composed  of  three  hundred  and 
eighty-four  delegates,  unanimously  adopted  the  following  reso- 
lution : 

"  Resolved,  That  EEUBEN  B.  FENTON  is  the  first  choice  of  the 
Union  Kepublican  party  in  this  State  for  the  office  of  Vice- 
President.  His  early  and  consistent  identification  with  the 
cause  of  human  freedom,  his  patriotic  services  in  Congress, 
the  fidelity  and  sagacity  he  has  displayed  in  the  office  of  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  State,  his  earnest  and  uniform  devotion  to  the 
wants  and  interests  of  soldiers,  his  popularity,  as  attested  by 
being  twice  elected  Governor  over  strong  antagonists,  as  well 
as  his  great  prudence  and  firmness,  give  assurance  that  his 
nomination  would  inspire  universal  confidence  and  enthusiasm, 
and  be  followed  by  the  triumphant  success  of  the  whole  ticket." 

More  brilliant  men  may  have  occupied  the  executive  chair  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  than  Governor  Fenton,  but  it  has  been 
filled  by  no  more  sagacious  statesman,  and  by  no  more  consci- 
entious man,  and  such  will  be  the  verdict  of  those  who  shall 
impartially  write  a  history  of  the  times  wherein  we  live. 


HON.  OLIVER  PERRY  MORTON. 


PERRY  MORTON  was  born  in  Wayne  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  4th  of  August,  1823,  and,  becoming  an 
orphan  while  yet  very  young,  was  placed  under  the  care 
of  his  grandmother  and  two  aunts,  living  in  Hamilton 
county,  Ohio.  In  early  youth  he  served  for  awhile  with  a 
brother  in  the  hatter's  trade,  but,  in  1839,  was  placed  at  school 
in  his  native  county,  under  the  tuition  of  Professor  S.  K.  Hos- 
hour,  then  principal  of  the  Wayne  county  seminary,  and  now 
a  professor  in  the  Northwestern  Conference  university,  at  Indi- 
anapolis. His  honored  instructor  says  of  him,  at  this  period 
of  his  life,  "  If  some  knowing  genius  had  then  suggested  to  me 
that  the  future  governor,  par  excellence,  of  Indiana,  was  then 
in  the  group  around  me,  I  would  probably  have  sought  him  in 
a  more  bustling  form,  with  brighter  eyes  and  a  more  marked 
head  than  Oliver's.  But  time  has  shown  that  in  him  was  the 
mens  sana  in  corpora  sano,  which  the  college,  the  acquisition  of 
jurisprudence,  legal  gymnastics  at  the  bar,  the  political  crisis  of 
the  past,  and  the  present  exigencies  of  the  nation,  have  fully 
developed,  and  now  present  him  the  man  for  the  most  responsi- 
ble position  in  the  gift  of  a  free  people."  After  leaving  the 
seminary,  young  Morton  entered  Miami  university,  at  Oxford, 
Ohio,  where  he  appears  under  a  more  favorable  guise,  as  the 
star  member  of  the  Beta  Theta  Pi  society,  and  the  best  debater 

in  the  college.     Leaving  the  university  without  graduating,  he 
318 


HOX.   OLIVER   PERRY    MORTON.  319 

went  to  Centreville,  Indiana,  and  began  the  study  of  law  with 
the  Hon.  John  S.  Newman,  bending  all  his  energies  to  the  tho- 
rough acquisition  of  his  profession.  In  1845,  he  married  Miss 
Lucinda  M.  Burbank,  of  Centreville,  a  lady  of  rare  intelligence 
and  refinement,  whose  untiring  and  benevolent  efforts,  during 
the  recent  war  of  the  civil  rebellion,  for  the  relief  of  the  Indiana 
volunteers,  have  honored  both  herself  and  her  husband. 

Admitted  to  the  bar  in  1846,  Mr.  Morton  soon  took  a  front 
rank  as  a  jurist  and  advocate,  commanding,  by  his  natural  and 
acquired  abilities,  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  In  the  spring 
of  1852,  he  was  elected  circuit  judge,  acquiring  among  his  fel- 
low-members of  the  bar,  as  well  as  in  the  public  estimation,  a 
high  reputation  for  thoroughness  and  fairness.  When,  in  the 
spring  of  1854,  the  Democratic  party,  of  which  he  had  always 
been  a  member,  repealed  the  Missouri  compromise  and  passed 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  he  promptly  seceded  from  the  party, 
and  thenceforth  co-operated  with  the  Eepublican  party  in  its 
efforts  to  stay  the  spread  of  slavery  and  slave  territory.  Yet 
on  the  subject  of  free  trade,  internal  improvements,  etc.,  he  re 
mained  essentially  in  harmony  with  this  old  party,  nor  did  he 
repudiate  these  principles  in  his  departure  from  the  Democracy, 
or  in  his  acceptance  of  the  nomination  for  the  governorship  of 
Indiana,  which  was  tendered  to  him,  in  1856,  by  acclamation. 
Having  consented  to  head  the  Eepublican  State  ticket,  he  accom- 
panied his  Democratic  competitor — Ashbel  P.  Willard — in  a 
vigorous  and  thorough  canvass  of  the  entire  State,  doing  noble 
work,  wherever  he  went,  for  the  cause  of  Eepublicanism.  Yet, 
although  he  was  defeated,  the  large  vote  which  he  received,  con- 
sidering the  many  difficulties  under  which  he  labored,  and  the 
youth  of  his  party  in  the  State,  was  justly  to  be  considered  a 
victory.  From  this  time  forward,  Morton?s  character  seemed  to 
develop  into  new  strength  and  harmony,  and  the  superiority  of 


820  MEN   OF   OUR  DAY. 

his  mental  organization  became  more  generally  acknowledged. 
From  the  end  of  this  campaign,  however,  to  the  commencement 
of  that  of  1860,  he  asked  no  honors  of  his  party,  but  was  con- 
tent to  labor,  energetically  and  constantly,  for  the  promotion  of 
its  success.  His  sound 'judgment  and  eminently  practical  mind 
gave  him  new  influence  in  political  councils,  where  he  was 
acknowledged  as  the  best  of  engineers  and  an  authority  as  a 
frarner  of  policy.  The  Republican  party  in  Indiana,  from  its 
inception  to  1860,  owes  its  advancement  largely  to  his  untiring 
zeal,  wise  counsels,  and  personal  influence. 

When  that  important  campaign  opened,  Mr.  Morton's  name 
again  appeared  on  the  Republican  ticket  as  nominee  for  lieu- 
tenant-governor, "  for  reasons  which  were,  at  that  time,  supposed 
to  have  some  weight,  but  which  have  since  faded  so  completely 
that  it  seems  almost  incredible  that  he  was  ever  thought  of  for 
so  inferior  a  position."  Again  he  plunged  into  the  canvass  of 
the  State  with  that  vigor  of  intellect  and  body  which  few  men 
possess,  in  an  equal  degree,  showing  a  scope  of  view  and  a  con- 
cise, but  logical,  method  of*  statement  and  argument  which 
rendered  him  unanswerable  by  his  Democratic  opponents,  and 
which  entitled  him  to  the  front  rank  of  expounders  of  the  Re- 
publican doctrines.  The  Republican  ticket  in  Indiana,  as  in  all 
the  Northern  States,  was  successful,  and,  on  the  14th  day  of  Jan- 
uary, 1861,  he  was  duly  qualified  as  lieutenant-governor,  and 
took  his  seat  as  president  of  the  Senate.  He  occupied  this  posi- 
tion but  two  days,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  election,  by  the 
Legislature,  of  the  governor  elect — Hon.  Henry  S.  Lane — to  the 
Senate  for  a  six-years'  term,  he  became  Governor  of  Indiana, 
and  took  the  oath  of  office.  Upon  assuming  the  executive  chair, 
Governor  Morton  found  the  public  interests  in  a  critical 
condition.  Under  previous  loose,  corrupt  administrations,  the 
public  treasury  had  been  depleted  by  wanton  extravagance  and 


HON.   OLIVER   PERRY   MORTON.  321 

official  peculation,  the  sinking  fund  had  been  miserably  misman- 
aged, and  a  regular  system  of  frauds  had  been  carried  on  by 
State  and  county  officers  in  the  disposition  of  the  swamp  lands, 
until  the  credit  of  the  State  abroad  was  so  much  impaired  that 
she  had  become  a  borrower  to  pay  her  debts,  and  was,  literally, 
"  a  by-word  among  her  own  citizens."  The  new  governor  set 
himself  earnestly  to  work  to  bring  order  out  of  confusion,  to 
renovate  the  different  departments  of  government,  to  replenish 
a  depleted  treasury  and  to  redeem  the  credit  of  the  State.  He 
inaugurated  a  new  era  of  honesty,  economy,  and  good  financial 
management,  which  saved  the  State  many  millions  of  dollars, 
and  rescued  her  name  from  infamy  and  distrust. 

But  a  new  and  still  more  threatening  danger  was  to  be 
averted  from  his  beloved  "Hoosier  State."  The  gathering 
cloud  of  disunion  and  civil  war  hung  over  the  country,  and  it 
became  evident  that  Indiana  was  afflicted  with  so  large  a  share 
of  disloyalty,  that  the  advocates  of  secession  even  confidently 
counted  upon  material  aid  from  her,  in  the  shape  of  men  and 
arms,  in  their  proposed  treasonable  designs.  Governor  Morton 
was  determined,  however,  that  this  scarce  concealed  treason 
should  be  nipped  "  in  the  bud,"  and  to  commit  his  State  fully 
and  unequivocally  on  the  side  of  freedom  and  loyalty.  Early 
in  the  spring  of  1861,  he  visited  the  President  at  "Washington, 
and  assured  him,  that  if  he  pursued  a  vigorous  policy,  he  could 
pledge  him  at  least  six  thousand  Hoosiers  for  the  defence  of 
the  Union.  When,  at  length,  in  April,  the  attack  upon  Sumter 
had  both  startled  and  fired  the  northern  heart,  and  the  Presi- 
dent issued  his  call  for  seventy-five  thousand  troops — Indiana's 
quota  being  fixed  at  six  regiments,  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
men  each — Governor  Morton  issued  a  proclamation,  which,  in 
eight  days,  rallied  over  twelve  thousand  men  to  the  defence  of 

the  national  flag.     The  first  six  regiments  marched  promptly 
21 


322  MEN    OF    OUR   DAY. 

forward  to  the  field,  attracting  at  all  points  general  admiration 
and  surprise  at  the  perfection  of  their  equipment;  and  Governor 
Morton's  efficiency  was  held  up  as  an  incentive  for  other  State 
executives  to  follow  in  nearly  all  the  northwestern  States  ;  and 
hardly  had  these  first  troops  reached  the  field,  before  the  ever- 
thoughtful  governor  sent  agents  to  follow  their  footsteps,  at- 
tend to  their  wants,  and  see  that  all  their  little  needs  were 
supplied  while  in  health,  and  that  they  were  properly  cared  for 
when  sick.  With  Governor  Morton,  indeed,  may  be  said  to 
have  originated  the  plan  of  sending  State  agents  to  visit  and 
care  for  troops  in  the  field ;  and,  throughout  the  war,  his  agents 
uniformly  distanced  those  of  all  other  States.  A  few  days 
after,  the  governor  tendered  an  additional  six  regiments  to  the 
President.  His  message  to  the  Legislature,  which  he  had  called 
in  extra  session,  was  full  of  determined  and  lofty  patriotism. 
Laying  aside  all  party  prejudices,  he  required  only  loyalty  and 
capacity  as  the  necessary  qualifications  for  positions  of  influ- 
ence ;  and  so  great,  indeed,  was  the  liberality  shown  by  him  to 
the  Democracy,  as  to  arouse  the  jealousy  of  the  Eepublicans, 
who  criticised  his  course  with  much  severity  during  this  special 
session. 

Meanwhile,  the  neighboring  State  of  Kentucky  was  in  a 
very  precarious  state.  Its  governor,  Magoffin  (at  heart  a  seces- 
sionist), was  endeavoring  not  only  to  play  into  the  hands  of  the 
South  by  preventing  Kentucky  from  joining  the  hosts  of  free- 
dom, but  to  draw  Indiana,  Ohio,  and  other  northern  border 
States  also  into  their  power,  by  inducing  them  to  hold  a  po- 
sition of  neutrality,  and  assume  the  character  of  sovereign  medi- 
ators between  Government  and  the  seceded  States.  Governor 
Morton,  however,  was  not  deceived  by  this  specious  plea  of  neu- 
trality. He  firmly  rejected  all  propositions  to  that  effect  from 
Governor  Magoffin ;  and,  desirous  of  keeping  Kentucky  "  in 


HON.    OLIVER   PERRY   MORTON.  323 

the  Union,"  lie  dispatched  thither  numbers  of  his  own  secret 
agents,  by  whom  he  was  promptly  advised  of  the  plans  and 
operations  of  the  secessionists  in  every  part  of  that  State.  On 
the  16th  of  September,  1861,  Governor  Morton  received  from 
one  of  these  agents,  information  of  Zolli  coffer's  advance  into 
Kentucky,  to  a  point  some  fourteen  miles  beyond  the  Tennessee 
line,  and  of  a  corresponding  advance  by  Buckner's  rebel  force 
towards  Louisville.  The  governor  promptly  countermanded 
an  expedition  under  General  Eousseau,  which  was  just  starting 
for  St.  Louis,  and  ordered  the  force  to  cross  the  Ohio  into  Ken- 
tucky— at  the  same  time  hastening  every  available  man  in 
Indiana,  to  the  defence  of  Louisville,  the  safety  of  which  was 
thus  assured  beyond  a  doubt. 

Fully  convinced,  now,  that  Kentucky's  neutrality  was  at  an 
end,  and  that  her  soil  was  actually  invaded  by  the  rebels,  Gov- 
ernor Morton  withdrew  his  secret  agents,  and,  appealing  to  his 
Hoosiers  for  help,  to  redeem  the  sister  State  from  the  enemy, 
he  sent  forward  regiment  after  regiment  into  Kentucky,  and 
before  many  months  had  passed,  the  Federals  held  Bowling 
Green,  Zollicoffer  was  killed,  his  troops  defeated  at  Mill  Spring, 
and  the  soil  of  Kentucky  cleared  of  rebels.  This  generous 
conduct  endeared  the  governor  to  the  Unionists  of  Kentucky, 
who  virtually  adopted  him  as  their  governor.  We  cite  an  in- 
cident in  point.  "  Shortly  after  Kentucky  was  cleared  of  rebel 
troops,  a  very  wealthy  lady  of  Frankfort,  the  owner  of  a  large 
number  of  slaves,  visited  some  friends  in  Indianapolis,  and  on 
the  second  day  of  her  visit  inquired  for  Governor  Morton. 
Upon  ascertaining  that  he  was  absent,  and  would  not  return 
for  several  days,  she  prolonged  her  visit  somewhat  beyond  the 
time  she  had  intended  to  remain.  The  day  for  the  governor's 
return  having  arrived,  and  he  not  appearing,  the  lady  extended 
her  visit  still  several  days  more,  saying  she  would  not  leave  In- 


324  MEN    OF    OUR   DAY. 

dianapolis  until  she  had  seen  him.  A  friend  inquiring  of  her  the 
reason  why  she  was  so  anxious  to  see  the  Hoosier  governor,  she 
replied,  "  Because  he  is  our  governor,  as  well  as  yours,  and  has 
been  ever  since  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion."  And  we  are 
reminded,  also,  of  the  Indiana  soldier,  who  interposed  to  stop 
an  angry  altercation  in  the  streets  of  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  as 
to  whether  Magoffin  (de  facto),  or  Johnson  (provisional),  was 
governor  of  Kentucky,  by  the  remark — "  Hold  on,  gentlemen, 
you  are  all  mistaken.  I  will  settle  this  controversy.  Neither 
of  your  men  is  governor  of  Kentucky,  but  Governor  Morton,  of 
Indiana,  is  governor  of  Kentucky,  as  his  soldier-boys,  with  their 
blue  coats  and  Enfield  rifles,  will  soon  show  you." 

Despite  the  discouraging  impressions  produced  upon  the 
public  mind,  by  the  reverses  to  the  national  arms  in  the  fall  of 
1861,  twenty  volunteer  regiments  were  added  to  the  twenty -four 
Indiana  regiments  already  in  the  field  by  the  end  of  the  year, 
a  result  of  the  ever- constant  fidelity  of  Governor  Morton  in 
following  the  absent  troops,  securing  their  pay,  attending  to 
their  personal  wants,  and  providing  for  their  families  at  home. 
But  the  same  energy  and  fraternal  care  which  inspired  confidence 
in  the  volunteers,  also  excited  envy  and  detraction  at  home, 
among  a  certain  class  of  ambitious  politicians  and  traitors  to 
the  national  cause.  Charges  of  mismanagement  in  State  mili- 
tary matters,  of  corruption  in  official  appointments  and  the 
awarding  of  contracts,  became  so  frequent  that,  finally,  in 
December,  1861,  a  Congressional  Committee  of  Investigation 
visited  Indianapolis,  at  the  urgent  and  frequently  repeated  re- 
quest of  the  governor,  and  instituted  a  rigid  examination  of  the 
management  of  the  military  affairs  of  tne  State.  Their  pub- 
lished report  not  only  vindicated  Governor  Morton  from  all 
blame,  but  developed,  in  the  most  incontestable  manner,  his 
care  to  prevent  fraud,  peculation,  and  waste.  It  has  been  well 


HOIST.    OLIVER   PERRY    MORTON.  325 

said  of  him,  at  this  period,  that,  "  as  the  war  progressed,  and 
the  execution  of  all  plans  proposed  by  him  resulted  success- 
fully, he  rose  in  the  estimation  of  the  President  and  Cabinet, 
until  it  was  finally  admitted  by  the  knowing  ones  at  Washing- 
ton, that  his  influence  with  the  powers  at  that  city  was  greater 
than  that  of  any  other  man,  outside  of  the  national  executive 
department,  in  the  country.  His  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
people  of  the  northwest,  his  ready  tact  in  adapting  means  to 
ends,  his  great  forecasting  and  combining  powers,  and  above  all 
his  energy  and  promptness  in  the  performance  of  all  labor 
assigned  him,  secured  to  him  a  deference  which  few  men  in  the 
nation  enjoyed ;  and  more  than  once  was  his  presence  requested, 
and  his  counsel  solicited,  in  matters  of  the  greatest  importance 
to  the  Government." 

The  depression  of  the  public  mind  during  the  winter  of 
1861-62,  seemed  only  to  rouse  Governor  Morton  to  still  greater 
resolutions  and  endeavors ;  and  by  his  indefatigable  exertions, 
six  regiments,  by  the  last  of  February,  1862,  were  added  to  the 
number  of  those  already  in  the  service.  About  the  commence- 
ment of  the  year,  a  wide-spread  and  formidable  western  con- 
spiracy, in  aid  of  the  Southern  Eebellion,  was  discovered  to  ex 
ist  in  most  of  the  loyal  States,  known,  in  some  places,  as  the 
"  Star  in  the  "West,"  in  others,  as  the  "  Self  Protecting  Broth- 
ers," "  Sons  of  Liberty,"  etc.,  but  most  generally,  as  "  The  Order 
of  American  Knights,"  in  affiliation  with  the  southern  society 
of  "  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle."  The  order  became  quite 
popular  in  the  southern  counties  of  Indiana,  and  its  members 
were  especially  virulent  in  denunciation  of  the  administration, 
the  "  abolition  war,"  and  Governor  Morton.  Against  him  they 
especially  charged,  with  a  persistence  which  seemed  to  be 
proof  against  repeated  denials,  that  he  was  instrumental  in  pro- 
curing the  imposition,  by  Congress,  of  oppressive  taxation ;  and, 


326  MEN   OF    OUR   DAY. 

also,  corruption  in  the  appointment  of  the  first  State  quarter- 
master-general ;  notwithstanding,  in  relation  to  the  first  charge, 
that  he  had  by  good  engineering  so  managed,  that  Indiana's 
share  of  this  taxation  had  been  "offset"  by  the  sum  due  to  the 
State,  by  the  General  Government,  for  advances  made  by  the 
former  in  equipping  the  Indiana  volunteers,  etc.,  and  in  regard 
to  the  quartermaster,  ignoring  the  fact,  that  that  able  officer,  as 
well  as  many  to  whom  he  had  given  the  best  contracts,  belonged 
to  the  Democratic  party.  More  than  this,  also,  they  had  the 
meanness  to  accuse  Governor  Morton  of  appropriating,  secretly, 
to  his  own  use,  the  county  and  personal  donations  made  to  sol- 
diers in  camp ;  although,  the  governor,  as  was  well  known,  had 
borrowed  on  his  own  responsibility  $600,000,  with  which  he 
had  paid  bounties  to  regiments,  which  had  refused  to  obey 
marching  orders,  unless  they  received  the  money. 

Indiana,  indeed,  at  the  commencement  of  the  year  1863,  was 
in  a  most  precarious  condition.  Secret  enemies  had  succeeded, 
by  the  most  unscrupulous  means,  in  securing  the  election,  on 
what  was  familiarly  known  as  the  "  butternut  ticket,"  of  a  Le- 
gislature principally  composed  of  men  determinedly  opposed  to 
the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  who  had  deliberately  sought 
seats  in  that  body  for  the  purpose  of  thwarting  all  loyal  effort, 
and  encouraging  the  cause  of  rebellion.  These  men,  from  the 
first,  evinced  a  fixed  determination  to  insult  the  executive  of  the 
State,  deprive  him  of  all  power,  and  seize  in  their  own  hands 
the  entire  control  of  every  department  of  the  State  government. 
On  the  second  day  of  the  session,  the  Senate  received  from  the 
governor  the  usual  biennial  message,  and  ordered  it  to  be  printed ; 
but  the  House  refused  to  receive  it,  returned  it  to  the  governor, 
and  passed. a  resolution  receiving  and  adopting  the  message  of 
the  Governor  of  New  York.  Beginning  its  legislative  career 
with  this  deliberate  insult  to  the  executive,  it  continued,  during 


HON.   OLIVER   PERRY   MORTON.  327 

its  session  of  fifty-nine  days,  to  pursue  its  revolutionary  policy 
with  increased  violence,  and  an  open  disregard  of  constitutional 
obligations,  and  even  of  ordinary  decency.  Occupying  its  time 
chiefly  with  the  introduction  of  disloyal  resolutions  and  the  ut- 
terance of  factious  and  treasonable  sentiments,  which  were  calcu- 
lated to  incite  the  people  to  resistance  to  Government,  all  the 
necessary  and  legitimate  subjects  of  legislation  were  disregarded 
or  kept  back ;  and,  during  the  entire  session,  with  a  quorum  in 
each  House,  every  appropriation  was  suppressed  until  the  last 
day,  (when  it  was  known  that  a  quorum  could  not  be  had  in  the 
House,)  except  that  for  their  own  per  diem  and  mileage,  which 
was  passed  on  the  first  day  of  the  session. 

This  dastardly  conduct,  of  course,  burdened  Governor  Morton 
and  the  loyal  officers  of  the  State  government  with  an  immense 
load  of  responsibility.  The  benevolent  institutions,  the  State 
arsenal,  the  soldiers  in  the  field  and  hospital,  the  soldiers'  fami- 
lies at  home,  the  pay  due  the  "  Legion  "  for  services  at  various 
times  in  repelling  invasion  on  the  border,  the  corps  of  special 
surgeons,  military  claims,  the  State  debt,  and  the  numerous  other 
important  measures  and  objects  requiring  prompt  and  liberal 
appropriations,  were  left  utterly  unattended  to — although  there 
was  money  enough  in  the  treasury — by  a  set  of  men  who  did 
not  forget  to  draw  their  own  pay  and  mileage,  and  appropriate 
nearly  $20,000  to  the  State  printer. 

But  the  governor  was  nothing  daunted  by  this  disgraceful  and 
perplexing  state  of  affairs. '  Believing  that  to  close  the  asylums 
would  be  a  shame  and  a  disgrace — a  crime  against  humanity 
itself — and  that  to  call  back  the  Legislature,  after  their  dastardly 
conduct  of  the  previous  session,  would  be  not  only  useless  but 
perilous  to  the  peace  and  the  best  interests  of  the  State,  he 
established  a  bureau  of  finance,  and  so  great  a  degree  of  success 
attended  his  efforts  in  obtaining  money  that  he  was  enabled  sue- 


328  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

cessfully  to  carry  on  all  the  institutions  of  the  State,  and  keep 
the  machinery  of  government  in  motion,  until  the  next  regular 
meeting  of  the  Legislature. 

On  the  20th  of  July,  1863,  Governor  Morton,  being  in  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  received  the  compliment  of  a  request  from  the 
common  council  of  that  city,  that  he  would  sit  for  his  portrait, 
to  be  hung  in  the  City  Hall,  as  a  fitting  remembrance  of  the 
indebtedness  felt  by  the  citizens  to  him  for  his  services  during 
the  war.  On  the  23d  of  February,  1864,  the  Union  State  Con- 
vention placed  his  name  at  the  head  of  the  Union  ticket  for 
1864.  It  was  with  the  commencement  of  this  campaign  "  that 
the  great  work  of  Governor  Morton's  life  began ;  a  work  more 
varied  and  arduous  than,  perhaps,  was  ever  undertaken  by  any 
other  State  executive."  The  "  Democratic  "  Legislature  of  1863 
had,  with  the  aid  of  the  State  officers  of  that  period,  surrounded 
him  with  such  embarrassments  that  the  performance  of  his  civil 
functions  was  a  most  difficult  and  complicated  task.  Frequent 
calls  for  new  levies  of  troops,  the  organization  of  regiments, 
and  their  preparation  for  the  field,  greatly  increased  his  military 
labors.  The  wants  of  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  at  the  front 
were  daily  multiplying,  and  thousands  of  dependent  families  at 
home  had  to  be  supported.  The  governor's  well-known  supe- 
riority in  council,  the  ability  which  marked  the  success  which 
attended  his  plans  and  measures,  induced  frequent  demands  for 
his  presence  at  Washington.  And  yet,  not  only  were  these  du- 
ties— civil  and  military,  official  and  extra- official — not  neglected, 
but  they  were  performed  with  a  readiness,  skill  and  complete- 
ness which  marked  Governor  Morton  as  one  of  the  most  extra- 
ordinary men  of  his  times,  and  covered  the  name  of  Indiana 
with  glory.  In  addition  to  all  this,  he  gave  his  own  personal 
attention  to  the  campaign,  delivering  frequent  speeches,  which 
were  powerful,  and  productive  of  incalculable  good.  Towards 


HON.   OLIVER   PEERY    MORTON.  329 

the  close,  also,  of  the  campaign,  the  atrocious  designs  of  the 
"  Sons  of  Liberty  "  seemed  about  to  culminate  in  open  revolt 
and  anarchy.  Over  eighty  thousand  members,  as  was  afterwards 
proved,  existed  in  the  State,  thoroughly  armed,  waiting  for  the 
signal,  to  rise  at  the  polls  on  election  day,  and  Governor  Morton's 
life  was  especially  marked.  But  he  was  prepared  for  the  emer- 
gency ;  his  secret  detectives  were  operating  in  every  part  of  the 
State,  and  by  their  dexterity,  the  executive  was  constantly  and 
promptly  advised  of  all  the  schemes  and  designs  of  the  con- 
spirators. He  possessed  the  knowledge  of  their  financial  re- 
sources, their  military  force  and  plans,  their  places  of  rendez- 
vous, their  purchases  of  arms,  and,  through  his  agents,  was  "  on 
hand  "  at  every  point,  to  foil  every  move,  break  tip  every  plot, 
and  suppress  every  incipient  outbreak  of  disloyalty.  Yet  he 
wisely  deferred  any  open,  complete  exposure  of  the  "  Sons  of 
Liberty  "  until  after  the  election,  when  a  military  court  of  in- 
quiry was  convened,  before  which  the  Indiana  ringleaders  of 
treason  were  tried,  convicted  and  punished.  This  detective 
work  was  the  most  important  of  the  many  signal  services  ren- 
dered to  the  State  by  .Governor  Morton;  and  not  to  the  State 
only,  but  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  itself. 

The  Governor  was  re-elected  by  a  sweeping  majority,  and 
under  the  new  draft,  the  men  of  Indiana  sprung  promptly  for- 
ward to  the  aid  of  Government.  It  was  no  longer — thanks  to 
Governor  Morton's  labors  for  the  soldiers — a  disgrace  to  belong 
to  an  Indiana  regiment,  and  soldiers  of  other  States  were  fre- 
quently heard  to  say  to  the  "  Hoosier  boys :"  "  We  wouldn't 
mind  fighting,  if  we  had  such  a  governor  as  you  have." 

"  During  the  winter  of  1865,"  says  a  friend  of  the  governor, 
"  he  was  the  most  ubiquitous  man  in  the  United  States.  First 
at  Washington,  in  council  with  the  President ;  then  at  the  front, 
surveying  with  his  own  eyes  the  battle-field ;  moving  in  person 


330  MEN  OF   OUR   DAY. 

through  the  hospitals,  ascertaining  the  wants  of  the  sick  and 
wounded ;  supervising  the  operations  of  his  nun:  erous  agents ; 
then  at  home,  directing  sanitary  movements,  appointing  extra 
surgeons  and  sending  them  to  the  field,  projecting  new  plans  for 
the  relief  of  dependent  women  and  children,  attending  personally 
to  all  the  details  of  the  business  of  his  office."  And,  when  the 
war  came  to  a  glorious  termination,  he  was  the  first  to  welcome 
the  returning  heroes  to  the  State  capital,  where  they  were  sump- 
tuously entertained,  at  the  public  expense ;  promptly  furnished 
with  their  pay,  and  sent  rejoicing  to  their  homes,  with  no  un- 
necessary delay — feeling  that  their  governor  cared  for  them,  as 
a  father  doth  for  his  children.  And,  then,  when  the  rush  of 
business  was  over — when,  for  the  first  time  in  five  years,  he  felt 
in  some  degree  relieved  from  the  immense  weight  of  official 
responsibility  and  embarrassment,  of  gigantic  difficulties  he  had 
been  obliged  to  combat  in  placing  Indiana  in  the  front  rank  of 
loyal  States ;  of  his  intense  and  incessant  anxiety  for  the  success 
of  the  Union  cause — then  the  high  strung  frame  gave  way, 
and  in  the  summer  of  1865,  he  was  attacked  with  paralysis. 
Accordingly,  by  the  advice  of  his  physicians,  he  embarked  with 
his  family  for  Italy,  followed  by  the  prayers  of  thousands  of 
loving  hearts  in  Indiana,  and  by  the  respect  of  the  nation. 
After  his  return  to  this  country,  he  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  on  the  Eepublican  ticket,  and  as  the  successor  of 
Hon.  Henry  S.  Lane,  for  the  term  ending  March,  4th,  1873. 

In  the  Senate,  though  embarrassed  and  restrained  from  the 
active  labors  he  so  much  desires  to  perform,  by  the  still  feeble 
condition  of  his  health,  the  result  of  those  years  of  overwork, 
he  has  yet  rendered  excellent  service  to  the  country  he  so 
ardently  loves.  As  a  member  of  the  important  Committees  on 
Foreign  Eelations,  on  Military  Affairs,  and  on  Agriculture,  his 
counsels  have  been  of  great  advantage  to  the  Senate.  His 


HON.   OLIVER   PERRY    MORTON..  331 

speech  on  reconstruction,  delivered  in  the  winter  of  1868,  was 
the  most  profoundly  logical  and  able  argument  on  that  subject 
delivered  in  the  Senate, — and  even  the  enemies  of  reconstruc- 
tion acknowledged  its  power. 

When  the  time  shall  come,  as  come  it  will,  when  a  grateful 
country  shall  rear  statues  to  the  men  whose  patriotic  loyalty, 
great  executive  ability,  and  active,  comprehensive  intellect 
contributed  most  signally  to  the  triumph  of  freedom  and  right, 
amid  that  host  of  heroes  and  martyrs,  two  names  shall  stand 
forth  resplendent  with  glory  and  honor,  the  names  of  JOHN 
ALBION  ANDREW  and  OLIVER  PERRY  MORTON.  On  these, 
the  highest  art  of  the  sculptor  shall  be  lavished,  and  fair 
hands  shall  crown  the  brows  of  these  'impersonations  of  the 
most  loyal  and  gifted  of  American  Governors  with  imperishable 
laurels. 


GOVERNOR  RICHARD  YATES. 


MONGr  the  many  loyal  governors  of  States,  who  seemed, 
during  their  country's  hour  of  peril,  to  be  providentially 
and  emphatically  "  the  right  men  in  the  right  places." 
RICHARD  YAT"ES,  Governor  of  Illinois,  was  conspicu- 
ous for  earnest  patriotism,  great  executive  ability  and  prudence 
and  burning  eloquence.  Born  at  Warsaw,  Gallatin  county, 
Kentucky,  on  the  18th  of  January,  1818,  he  became,  by  his 
father's  removal,  a  resident  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  in  the  year 
1831.  Enjoying  the  advantages  of  a  liberal  education,  he 
graduated  from  Illinois  College  at  Jacksonville;  and  subse- 
quently studied  the  profession  of  law  with  Colonel  J.  J.  Hardin, 
who  fell  in  the  Mexican  War.  Entering  upon  the  active 
practice  of  his  profession,  he  mingled  also  with  considerable 
success  in  politics,  and  represented  his  district  in  the  Illinois 
Legislature  in  1842,  1843, 1844, 1845,  1848,  and  1849.  In  1850 
he  received  the  Congressional  nomination  of  a  Whig  Convention, 
and  was  elected ;  finding  himself,  when  he  took  his  seat  in  the 
Thirty-second  Congress,  the  youngest  member  of  that  body. 
The  next  year,  despite  a  change  in  the  district,  which,  it  was 
supposed,  secured  it  to  the  'opposite  party,  he  was  re-elected 
over  Mr.  John  Calhoun,  a  popular  leader  of  the  opposition. 
At  the  next  election,  however,  he  was  defeated;  his  district 
sustaining,  by  its  vote,  Senator  Douglas's  Nebraska  Bill.  In 


GOVERNOR   KICHARD   YATES.  .  333 

*  Congress  lie  proved  himself  a  stern,  persistent,  uncompromising 
antagonist  of  every  movement  for  the  extension  of  the  area  of 
slave  territory ;  and  his  opposition  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  marked  him  as  a  firm  and  able  member,  whose 
opinions  were  entitled  to  respect.  Eeceiving,  in  1850,  the 
nomination  of  the  ^Republican  State  Convention,  as  its  candidate 
for  governor,  he  was  elected,  after  a  most  spirited  and  exciting 
canvass.  His  inaugural  message  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State,  on  the  14th  of  January,  1861,  had  the  ring  of  true 
and  lofty  patriotism.  Much  space  was  devoted  to  a  consider- 
ation of  the  critical  condition  of  the  national  fortunes ;  and  in 
discussing  them,  he  showed  that,  while  disposed  to  tender  to 
the  Southern  States  every  lawful  measure  of  pacification,  the 
State  of  Illinois,  as  represented  by  its  chief  executive  officer, 
would  maintain  the  Union  and  vindicate  the  right  of  consti- 
tutional majorities. 

The  first  call  for  troops,  made  by  the  Secretary  of  War, 
found  Illinois,  as  well  as  most  of  the  Northern  States,  without 
an  available,  efficient,  armed  and  organized  militia ;  with  an 
appalling  scarcity  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  and  in  a 
general  state  of  unpreparedness.  But,  on  the  same  day  on 
which  the  governor  received  the  call  of  the  War  Department, 
he  convened  a  special  session  of  the  Legislature,  to  be  held  on 
the  23d  of  April.  His  proclamation  was  itself  a  stirring, 
eloquent  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  the  imperial  State  over 
which  he  presided,  and  it  fell  with  magic  power  upon  waiting 
and  loyal  hearts.  Within  ten  days,  over  ten  thousand  men  had 
tendered  their  services.  Illinois  was  "on  the  border,"  and 
liable  to  immediate  invasion,  and  when,,  on  the  19th  of  April, 
Governor  Yates  received  from  the  War  Dapartment,  a  telegram 
instructing  him  to  send  a  brigadier-general  to  Cairo-a  valuable 
stragetic  point,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 


336  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY. 

Department],  in  the  midst  of  harvest  season,  and  without  resort  to  a 
draft,  over  fifty  thousand  men  volunteered  in  the  army  of  the  re- 
public, from  the  State  of  Illinois.  In  strong  contrast,  however,  to 
this  action  on  the  part  of  the  people,  was  that  of  their  repre- 
sentatives who  formed  the  General  Asssembly  of  1863-4. 

It  would  seem  as  if  no  heart  among  them  could  have  been 
deaf  to  the  fiery  eloquence  of  the  governor's  message,  of  which 
we  present  the  closing  sentences : 

"  I  can  think  of  no  peace  worth  having,  short  of  crushing  out 
the  rebellion,  and  the  complete  restoration  of  the  authority  of 
the  government.  The  only  way  to  honorable  and  permanent 
peace  is  through  war — desolating,  exterminating  war.  We 
must  move  on  the  enemy's  works.  We  must  move  forward 
with  tremendous  energy,  with  accumulated  thousands  of  men,' 
and  the  most  terrible  enginery  of  war.  This  will  be  the  short- 
est road  to  peace,  and  be  accompanied  with  the  least  cost  of 
life  and  treasure  in  the  end. 

"  If  our  brave  boys  shall  fall  in  the  field,  we  must  bury  the 
dead,  take  care  of  and  bring  home  the  sick  and  wounded,  and 
send  fresh  battalions  to  fill  up  the  broken  ranks,  and  to  deal  out 
death,  destruction,  and  desolation  to  the  rebels.  We  might 
talk  of  compromise,  if  it  affected  us  alone,  but  it  would  affect 
our  children's  children  in  all  the  years  of  the  future.  The 
interests  to  be  affected  are  far  reaching,  and  universal  to 
humanity,  and  lasting  as  the  generations  of  mankind.  I  have 
never  had  my  faith  in  the  perpetual  union  of  these  States  to 
falter.  I  believe  this  infernal  rebellion  can  be— ought  to  be— 
and  will  be  subdued.  The  land  may  be  left  a  howling  waste, 
desolated  by  the  bloody  footsteps  of  war,  from.  Delaware  Bay  to 
the  Gulf,  but  our  territory  shall  remain  unmutilated,  the  country 
shall  be  one,  and  it  shall  be  free  in  all  its  broad  boundaries, 
From  Maine  to  the  Gulf,  and  from  ocean  to  ocean. 

'In  any  event  may  we  be  able  to  act  a  worthy  part  in  the 

ymg  scenes  through  which  we  are  passing ;  and  should  the 
star  of  our  destiny  sink  to  rise  no  more,  may  we  feel  for  our- 


GOVERNOR   RICHARD   YATES.  337 

selves,  nnd  may  history  preserve  our  record  clear  before  heaven 
arid  earth,  and  hand  down  the  testimony  to  our  children,  that 
we  have  done  all,  periled  and  endured  all  to  perpetuate  the 
priceless  heritage  of  Liberty  and  Union  unimpaired  to  our 
posterity." 

Unmindful,  however,  of  the  solemnity  and  magnitude  of  the 
issues  then  pending,  a  majority  of  these  representatives  disre- 
garded the  wise  and  patriotic  suggestions  of  the  governor's 
message  reccommending  legislative  provisions  for  taking  the 
votes  of  the  State's  troops  then  in  the  field ;  the  erection  of  a 
hospital  or  soldier's  home ;  liberal  bounties  to  volunteers,  etc. 
And  their  conduct  was  so  far  regardless  of  the  dignity  and  best 
interests  of  the  State,  as  to  render  necessary  the  exercise  of  ex- 
treme parliamentary  strategy  in  order  to  prevent  legislation 
which  would  inevitably  have  blasted  the  fair  fame  of  the  State. 
Finally,  availing  himself  of  a  disagreement  between  the  two 
houses  as  to  the  time  of  final  adjournment,  Governor  Yates 
exercised  a  power  placed  in  his  hands  by  the  constitution  and 
prorogued  the  Legislature  until  the  31st  of  December,  1864,  the 
day  when  its  legal  existence  would  terminate  by  law — and  that 
body,  upon  whom  the  blow  fell  like  a  thunderbolt,  were  thu? 
saved  from  disgracing  themselves  and  their  constituents. 

"With  the  close  of  1864,  closed,  also,  Governor  Yates's  guber- 
natorial record,  of  which  it  has  been  fitly  said,  that  "  it  waa 
providential  that  a  man  with  his  spirit  and  activity  was  in  the 
executive  chair.  He  was  as  fully  committed  to  freedom  as 
against  slavery,  nor  did  he  ever  falter  in  his  position.  He 
stood  as  an  iron  pillar,  when  locally  in  a  minority,  and  waited 
for  the  day  when  truth  should  triumph.  As  governor  he  was 
the  soldier's  friend.  On  the  field  he  went  with  them  under 
fire,  used  every  possible  exertion  to  forward  them  sanitary 
supplies,  to  bring  the  wounded  into  hospitals  and  to  their  homes. 
22 


